


Scotland's Mist

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-03-31 08:49:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 29,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3971614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Rose get distracted from a routine visit at Jackie's when they see news of strange disappearances and happenings in the hills of Scotland.  They leave Jackie's flat but are not prepared for what they find.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Transferring this story from a different site. Hope you enjoy!

The Doctor had promised to go see Jackie with Rose this week. For a whole week, because Rose probably wanted to spite him for landing them in that swamp the other day.   
It honestly wasn't his fault.

But, he'd promised, and by promised, he meant Rose had crossed her arms and furrowed her brows, but she had asked very nicely, and it had confused him so much that he said yes, but it came out as more of a question.

"Fine," he groaned, pressing a button that he had saved for present day London (To speed up travel. Certainly not because he liked going there with Rose.) "Since you're insisting."

She broke out into a grin and hugged his arm. "Thank you," she said. "She called the other day, you know. She's missin' us."

"She's missing you," The Doctor corrected, shaking a finger at her. "Your mother has made it very clear that she does not want me around the flat."

Rose lifted a shoulder. "In some weird way, you're a part of our family. She just doesn't want you to know she doesn't hate you." She checked her phone. "And she says you're not sleeping in the TARDIS when we've got a completely serviceable guest room."

The Doctor blew out his cheeks at her last comment. He froze at the console and turned to her. "What do you mean, 'in some weird way'?"

She laughed and shook her head, refusing to answer him.

He huffed and turned back to the console just as the TARIDS made an exceptionally heavy landing. The blow threw Rose into the Doctor's side, and he shot an arm around her waist to hold her up.   
She tried not to think of the proximity. Whenever his arm was around her, it was always around the shoulders, never the waist, or the hip. The waist seemed to be off-limits as far as Rose was concerned.

She wished it weren't.

"Think I heard my knees crack," she muttered, trying to distract herself.

"Actually, it was these two vertebrae," the Doctor said, touching her spine near her lower back, and she did her best to repress a shiver. 

"I'm very impressive," he continued, drawing his arm away from her to stabilize the TARDIS. "Your bones actually do crack quite a lot. Sometimes when you fall." He shot her a wary look, "Makes me nervous, actually. You should stop doing that."

Her lip twitched. "Yes, sir." 

He threw her a smile over his shoulder as he headed for the door. He stuck his hand out after he exited the TARDIS, and she slipped her hand in his without even thinking.  
"London, 2007," he said cheerily, swinging their hands. He had parked them farther from the Powell Estate today, and she suspected it was because it was October, and the Doctor was very comfortable in the chill.

Rose fumbled with her jacket with one hand, rather impressed with the fact that she had gotten so used to holding hands with the Doctor that she could do it effectively with her free hand. 

"You aren't cold?" She asked for probably the one thousandth time since she had met him.

"No, not at all," he said. "Are you?"

She shrugged. "it's just October."

"We'll park closer next time," he promised.

"Nah, this is nice," she said, smiling up at him. he returned her grin and rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.

"It is, isn't it?"

 

"Rose!" A shout from down the street came with the heavy footfalls of someone running towards the two of them.

The Doctor sighed and pulled Rose so her arm was pressed against his. "Is that the Idiot?" He asked, sounding completely exasperated.

Rose smiled. "Still can't tell if that's a term of endearment or not."

"It's not," he said immediately, throwing her a rather frustrated glance. "If we were going to do endearment terms, I'd have one for you, not him."

She smiled at the notion. "And what would you call me?"

He smiled. "Probably jeopardy friendly," he teased, and she rolled her eyes. 

Mickey rounded the corner, nearly slamming into the both of them. "Rose!" he shouted again, hugging her. The Doctor was pleased to note that Rose only reciprocated the embrace with one arm, since she was still holding his hand.

 

He pulled away from Rose and gave her the once-over. "Haven't seen you two since Canary Warf," he said, sounding a little surprised, "Where you been, babe?"

"Busy," Rose said nonchalantly, "Never stop travellin', thought I told you that."

They continued walking towards the Estate, and Mickey shook his head. "Thought you'd at least take a break after something that traumatic," he sent Rose a rather 'kicked puppy' look, "Or at least stay for a day."

"We just needed to regroup," the Doctor cut in. "Hello by the way. We went to a leisure planet that day."

Mickey arched a brow. "A what?"

The Doctor made a disgusted sound. "Would you get your filthy mind out the gutter? A spa planet, relaxation, food, drinks, swimming pools."

Rose had to wonder why the Doctor was getting so specific. She knew that the Doctor got rather jealous of Mickey, and she could never figure out why. Sure, he was her ex, but that wasn't cause to be jealous. Maybe it was just because Mickey had known Rose longer than the Doctor had.

"Let's go see Jackie," The Doctor said hastily, pulling Rose along and forcing Mickey to make his strides wider to keep up. 

"Yeah, you can tell her why you haven't come back since Canary Warf," Mickey shot back.

"She knows we leave without warning," Rose replied evenly. "Not as big a deal to her."

"Maybe she doesn't tell you that," Mickey muttered under his breath, and Rose chose to ignore him. "We just miss you, that's all."

"Well, glad I've got people to come back to, then," She sent a grin Mickey's way.

They reached the Estate and the Doctor tugged Rose with him up the steps, refusing to let go of her hand. He had been loath to do so since Canary Warf, and he had almost lost her. 

One second more and she would've been sucked into the void, and he couldn't stop thinking about that. Her palm against his was often the only consolation he had, and a hug now and then never hurt either. And sometimes he sort of just wanted to pin her against a wall, plunge his hands into her hair and kiss her breathless, but that was something he couldn't do.  
They reached the door to Jackie Tyler's flat and after he knocked Rose heard him sigh and mutter, "I haven't decided which is the less of two evils yet."


	2. Chapter 2

"Coming!" Jackie Tyler's voice sounded from inside the flat. The three outside heard rushed footfalls and the door flung open. The Doctor blinked against the gust of wind that shot into his face.

"Hi, mum!" Rose said cheerily. 

Jackie pulled her daughter in for a hug. "Where have you two been?" She scolded. "I would've asked you over the phone, Rose, but for all I knew himself would be telling you exactly what to say to me."

"That's not how we-" The Doctor started to say.

"You're not telepathic with her," Mickey interrupted, pushing past Jackie and walked into the flat, the rest of them on his heels, the Doctor closing the door.

"No, but I don't control what she says," the Doctor replied, trailing along after Rose and sitting next to her on the couch.

"I should hope not," Jackie sniffed, walking to the kitchen, presumably to fetch tea. "But you've been gone for a couple of months!"

"Yeah, about that," Rose said slowly.

No one cut her off, she could've continued, but she didn't. She lifted a shoulder and offered an apologetic smile to the Doctor. He grinned back at her and took her hand, bringing their clasped fingers onto his knee.

It was a gesture of comfort, because as much as the Doctor was the Oncoming Storm, Jackie Tyler was the Oncoming Hurricane and she never seemed to be done oncoming.

She was quick with the tea, returned in about ten minutes, and gave the Doctor, Rose and Mickey each a cup before settling into her own chair with a mug of her own.

"About that," Jackie repeated. "After Canary Warf, and all of us almost died, the two of you swan off into more trouble and don't even stay the night. I'm just curious as to what you two got up to."

"Mum!" Rose's face flushed at her mother's innuendo, and although the Doctor was uncomfortable, he didn't let go of Rose's hand.

"They went to a leisure planet, Jacks," Mickey informed her. "Took a break."

Jackie quirked an eyebrow, just like Mickey had done, and repeated, "leisure planet?"

The Doctor sighed, absentmindedly stroking his thumb over the back of Rose's hand. "Spas. Pools. Fine dining," he bit each phrase out. "You bunch are filthy, always making everything a double entandre. It's sickening."

"I don't," Rose protested, a little offended.

"That's right, you don't," the Doctor agreed, offering her a fond look that made her grin. 

"That's why everyone things you two are gettin' up to it," Mickey muttered. 

Jackie shook her head. "Doesn't explain why you couldn't at least tell us you were leaving. I came out with dinner and you two were gone. And if there were spas?" Jackie snorted. "Could've taken me with you. Not like you don't have room."

The Doctor sniffed. "Rose needed a vacation. I, being brilliant and owning a sentient time and space vehicle, supplied one."

Jackie clicked her tongue. "Forget the pair of you," she said, and threw the television remote at Rose.

For the past couple of visits, Jackie had insisted that Rose turn on the news for at least ten minutes, so she could keep up with the times. The Doctor wasn't too fond of that idea, because it insinuated that Rose would leave him, and that she would need to know what was happing in present day London.

Rose, on the other hand, didn't mind, because it meant no nagging from her mum or Bev or Mickey or anybody else, and since the Doctor didn't tell her of his reasoning for hating the news, she didn't know. It was often like that, with them. But since he shared almost everything else with her, she couldn't really complain.

A broadcaster came on the set, a rather frightened looking man of about twenty-five who seemed to be trembling in his boots during his on location story. Both the Doctor and Rose were intrigued by his fear and leaned forward in their seats, because the man was standing on a rather unintimidating hillside with an equally unintimidating forest behind him.

"That's Scotland," The Doctor murmured into Rose's ear.

"How do you know?" She asked, turning to face him and almost bumping her nose against his. 

He shifted back to allow her room. "I can just tell."

The broadcaster took a shaky breath and carded his hand through his hair before lifting the microphone he was holding. "I'm here in some secluded highlands, hills and forests of Scotland."

"Told you."

"Where strange happenings have been occurring. A teenager has gone missing, and there are reports of..." he pressed his fingers to his ear, where, presumably, there was a link to the people back at the news studio. He paused, furrowing his brows and listening intently. He shot a worried glance at the camera and nodded furiously.

"Right, okay, there are reports of mist descending on the forest in the evening and disorienting the people who are left in it. Of course, that was merely a legend until a young girl named Leslie disappeared in the forest when with a couple of her friends. Some reported she was taken by a menacing man who she claimed was a friendly tourist. There is no word on this man." He shot a nervous glance over his shoulder and gulped audibly. "BacktoyouBarbara."

The woman back in the regular newsroom was much more calm than the on-location man, and Rose slowly turned to look at the Doctor.

"That's suspicious," she said slowly.

"It is," the Doctor agreed, a familiar twinkle in his eyes.

Yes, they had just gotten back and yes, Jackie and Mickey would want to spend time of them, but some sketchy mist in Scotland just simply couldn't wait. 

"You gonna do the accent again?" She teased. 

He grinned and nodded. "Might do, depending on what our credentials say."

Rose's face broke out into a huge grin. "Alright then, let's go to Scotland."

"I don't think so," Jackie's voice broke through both of them as they stood up and Mickey looked on as a helpless bystander. "Both of you sit your rears back on the couch. You are not going anywhere."


	3. Chapter 3

Jackie's words immediately deflated both Rose and the Doctor, and if she were another sort of woman, she would feel guilty. Unfortunately, Jackie was standing by word. There was no way that these two would come barging into her home for a cup of tea and then swan right back out.

 

She crossed her arms and waited for the Doctor or Rose to do something. They looked at each other for a long moment, and Mickey wondered if they really weren't telepathic with one another. 

 

"Mum, you know we've got to investigate," Rose protested firmly. "People are going missing, strange happenings," she waved her hand vaguely to demonstrate the rest of her point.

"Sit. Down." Jackie repeated, her eyes boring into her daughter's.

It was a battle of the wills. Who of two equally strong Tyler women would break first? Rose's jaw was set, eyes fixed on her mother's. It was dead quiet except for the sound of the telly playing a story about the new market down the street .

The Doctor set Mickey a helpless look, and Mickey spread his hands in resignation. Let them fight it out? At least if they were fighting, it would be interesting to watch. But they were just looking at each other. 

The Doctor squeezed Rose's hand, bringing her to attention. "Right," she said, sounding startled and sending the Doctor a quick look. "We're going, and you know we have to."

"She's right, Jackie," The Doctor cut in, "Lives could be at stake, that teenager, Leslie? She could be anywhere, anytime, really. And you know how people are about legends. They'll be apt to check it out, bury their noses where they don't belong."

"Let 'em go, Jackie," Mickey sighed. "Lord knows they'll just get into trouble around here."

Rose through Mickey a smile that, for some reason he couldn't really figure out, made him sniff loudly and pull her up against him.

"Right, thanks for the tea, but we'll be going," The Doctor said, getting ready to pull Rose right out the door.

"No," Jackie said firmly. "Really and properly, no. That mist is gettin' people taken and it always seems that when something does the taking you two are the ones that get taken."

The Doctor shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "Part of the job, that. And we're both adults."

Jackie snorted.

The Doctor furrowed his brows. "Oi, was that an age joke?"

"You're 900!" Jackie bit back.

The Doctor sighed, exasperated. "Are we still on that? Let's go, Rose."

Before he could get his right foot in front of his left, Jackie shot to her feet. "Give me one reason I should let you take my daughter into the mist?"

The Doctor looked at Rose. She met his eyes, an open expression across her features. He returned his gaze to Jackie. "Because she trusts me, and I wouldn't make her go if she didn't want to."

Jackie blew out a puff of air. "Guess if I make you stay you'll both just slip off later in the night, won't you?"

The Doctor and Rose nodded rather emphatically, because even if they didn't know that was what they were going to do, it was what they were going to do. Couldn't leave well enough alone, as it were. Rose wished that were true for other things. 

"Fine!" Jackie threw up her hands. "But if she ends up dead, I'll kill you, Doctor."

"If she dies, it'll only be because I'm already dead, Jackie," the Doctor said as he pulled Rose along out of the flat. "Be back soon!"

Rose smiled a little to herself at his words. He really did want to take care of her, make sure she was safe. Her Doctor.

No, she shook herself mentally, not yours.

"She's just nervous cause of Canary Warf," Rose said quietly.

"I'm nervous too, Rose," the Doctor admitted. "But what am I going to do? Lock you up in the TARDIS forever? No, you want to live, and I'm going to be with you for it."

"You're worried?" Rose asked, furrowing her brows as she almost tripped over the last stair of the Estate.

The Doctor caught her around the waist with his free arm, keeping her upright. She noticed he didn't untangle his hand from hers. He stopped for a moment, his hand on her stomach, stabilizing her, and then nodded.

"Whenever we get separated, or something starts to happen to one of us, I worry about you. I wonder if I die while we're on an adventure, will you be safe? Will you be happy? That is, if you can't fly the TARDIS without a big impressive Time Lord to save you afterwards." He shot her a grin to lighten the mood.

She laughed and bumped his shoulder with hers. "Lucky for you I don't plan on letting you die anytime soon."

"Same goes for you," he replied.

They were silent in the few minutes it took to get back to the TARDIS, each preoccupied with their own thoughts about the same topic, and it wasn't the mist.

"Right!" The Doctor nearly shouted as they reached the TARDIS, making Rose jump. "Scotland, mist, disappearances, and... What was the other thing that bloke mentioned?"

"The people Leslie was with saw somebody really intimidating... But she didn't," Rose worried her lip for a moment, following the Doctor up the ramp, "But she saw a tourist... Or somethin' like that. Somebody who needed help."

"So, that means the perception is different for each person sees something different." The Doctor said thoughtfully. He flipped a couple switches, sending them straight through the Vortex to present day Scotland.

"Like the TARDIS thing?" Rose asked, scrunching up her nose. 

 

The Doctor chuckled. "You'll have to be more specific."

"I mean the thing that makes people not notice the TARDIS. Like that, but instead it changes how you view it, not just that you view it?" She sat herself on the jump seat and watched him as he leaned his back against the console with a thoughtful expression.

He transferred his gaze from the ceiling to her and beamed manically, walking over to her. "Brilliant!" He said excitedly, pulling her by the face and kissing her forehead. "That's brilliant, Rose Tyler, absolutely! We'll have to investigate of course, but that is one hell of a start!"

Rose giggled at his excitement, remembering another time and a different face when he had done that exact same thing.

"Alright!" The Doctor crowed as the TARDIS landed rather abruptly. He waggled his eyebrows at Rose. "Shall we go, then?" 

He reached for her hand and she took it before they exited the TARDIS.


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor and Rose ran right into the moors of Scotland once the exited the TARDIS. He pulled them around the edge to look around the TARDIS.

"There we are!" he shouted enthusiastically. 

The TARDIS had parked them on the very edge of the forest they had just seen on the news, the man who had done the report still standing a little ways down the hill, tugging at his tie and staring at them.

"It's the mist, isn't it?" The man shouted, panicking. "They're... They're the mist!" He turned to the cameraman and whipped back around to the Doctor and Rose as they approached him, unfazed.

"I see a pretty blond woman and a man, do they look threatening to you? Should we run?"

The cameraman threw the reporter a strange look in reply.

"Hello," the Doctor greeted as they reached the men, waving his three hand. "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose. We're here about the mist."

The reporter opened and closed his mouth. "Who are you?"

"Sorry," Rose smiled at the man, "We're not disclosed. Doctor, show them the credentials." She nudged his shoulder.

The Doctor beamed at her and pulled the psychic paper out of his pocket, flashing it at the men.

"Sir Doctor of the TARDIS and Dame Rose of the Powell Estate," the reporter read allowed. "You've got titles." He nodded. "Can you help us investigate all this? Were you sent?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded. "When does the mist usually settle... What was your name?"

"William Cummings." the man shook the Doctor's hand and then Rose's. "The mist settles in the evening, around the time most folk go for walks or hikes, since it's cooler then," he glanced around nervously. "Not anymore, though. Not since this kid from a secluded town over the hill said he came up here, the mist settled, and his dog started acting weird. Do you think the mist caused that?"

"Dunno, William," The Doctor shrugged, rocking back on his heels. "Could've been anything, a sound the dog heard, panic from the boy-"

"No, the kid started acting weird too. He started to feel disoriented and confused, even though he'd grown up around there. What would cause that?"

"Again, could be anything," the Doctor replied. "But Dame Rose and I will stick around until tomorrow morning and see what we can see."

William blew out a harsh breath. "What if something happens to you?"

"Nothing will," Rose said assuredly. "Trust me, this isn't the worst thing we've dealt with."

"Fine, crawl to your deaths if you want, we're getting out of here." He motioned to the cameraman, who lifted his equipment and started to walk away. "Good luck," he tossed over his shoulder.

"Now then," the Doctor beamed at Rose as soon as they were alone. "Fancy camping?"  
******

The Doctor and Rose swapped hypotheses until evening started to settle. Rose wouldn't admit it outright, but she grew increasingly anxious as the sun began to disappear over the trees. She shivered for the third time before the Doctor frowned in concern and wrapped her in his arms, thinking she was cold.

Rose wasn't one to complain in the face of a gesture like this from the Doctor. He would shrink back into the TARDIS and be embarrassed for days. So instead, she wrapped her arms around his waist under his Janis Joplin coat and pressed her face to his chest, listening to his double heartbeat against her cheek.

"Better?" He asked, his tone tentative.

"Better," she agreed, squeezing him around the waist for good measure. "Gonna call you up the next time I need a cuddle."

"Who've you been calling?" He teased.

"No one, I'm in withdrawal," she retorted.

The Doctor was opening his mouth to reply to her comment when he noticed how dark it was getting... And the mist descending over the trees. He turned his head to the side, watching as it rolled through the leaves. "Rose." he whispered. "Look."

Rose lifted her chin, touching the top of her head to the Doctor's jawbone in the process. "That's that, then." She pulled back and smiled up at him. "Wanna get closer?"

"Oh, let's," he replied, winking at her. They separated from each other and darted towards the mist. 

It was cool, not thick enough that it was impossible to see through, and Rose thought, sort of pleasant. The touch engulfed her, and she spread her arms out to feel more of it, starting to relax. 

After a moment she shook herself, remembering where she was. Her head felt fuzzy, and she worked to clear her head and glanced over at the Doctor to see if he was having trouble focusing as well. He wasn't. His gaze was locked just above her head, his jaw set and his hands clenched at his sides.

"Get away from her," he said lowly, in a voice that sent fear into Rose's heart, not for herself, but for whoever was behind her. She started to shift over her shoulder and the Doctor's attention was brought to her. "Don't turn around," he snapped.

She nodded slowly, and the Doctor took a step forward. "Don't touch her!" he shouted. He took another step forward and pulled Rose into his arms, crushing her to him. "I am warning you," he said, as Rose began to tremble from an unseen threat. "I can help you, if help is what you need, but you will not hurt her. Understand?!"

A screech came from behind Rose and the Doctor fell back, Rose on top of him, into the grass. The mist blew out from all around them, leaving them in a center of untouched, dry grass, with walls of now obstructive mist around them.

The Doctor helped Rose sit up and pulled her into his side protectively. 

"Are we trapped?" Rose asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Is it going to kill us, Doctor?"

"No," the Doctor replied, sounding as though he were in awe. "It's not killing us. It's protecting us."


	5. Chapter 5

Rose sat up and looked curiously around. "Protecting us? How do you know?"

"I don't," the Doctor admitted. "But it hasn't killed us yet, and that's a very good sign in my book."

Rose snorted in response, and tried to stand, but when she did, the mist lifted all around her. It shifted to just above her head, covering her from anything else in the forest.

"This didn't happen to that Leslie girl, the others would've seen it," Rose said, her voice filled with wonder.

The Doctor watched Rose from the ground for a moment, lost in thought. True, this had not been reported in the news, and if anyone was bonkers enough to report mist surely they would've included this if it had happened.

Which, in conclusion, meant that something like this didn't happen to any of the teenagers who had been in the forest before.

He hummed in the back of his throat and pushed himself to his feet. As he did, the mist crept ever higher over Rose's head to cover the Doctor as well. It billowed just above his head now a good six inches over Rose. Just as no one could see into the mist, they couldn't see out.

Rose fidgeted a little and glanced around at all the mist, wringing her hands. "Hello," she said, "I don't speak fog, but maybe the Doctor here does, and maybe we can help you. I don't know what you want. I don't know why you put us in your..." She scrunched up her face. "Bowl of condensation. But thanks? I think."

"Yes, thanks," the Doctor picked up. "Is there something out there, something worse than you? Did you take that girl?"

The mist whipped around the pair of them in a tornado-like fashion, pushing the Doctor and Rose closer together. The wind blew Rose's hair away from her face, not that there was anything to see anyway. She grabbed for the Doctor's hand and it found hers with expert ease, lacing their fingers together.

Rose had to shut her eyes against the wind, but the Doctor was able to keep his open, glancing about at the mass of swirling grey around them.

"There's no need to have a temper tantrum!" He shouted. "We just want to help! Did you take that girl?! It's a yes or no question!"

As quickly as the wind had begun, it stopped, leaving the Doctor and Rose in their peaceful little bowl once more. It lifted to several inches above the Doctor's head and dropped back to be level with it. The Doctor huffed out in annoyance.

"What did that mean?" Rose asked quietly, trying to get moisture back into her eyes after all that wind.

"It just shrugged at me," the Doctor said, exasperated. "Well, then," he continued, now addressing the mist. "If you're going to be like that, you can just let us go. We'll come back tomorrow, but now we want to explore. And who're you to trap us, and not answer our questions? It's rather rude." He shot the walls around them the equivalent of a 'you should know better' stare that any parent in the universe would have been proud to call theirs.

Without warning, the mist shot straight up into the air until there was only a tunnel of darkness above them.

"Bloody brilliant," the Doctor muttered to himself. "Really, just brilliant."

Rose studied his profile for a moment. "Doctor, it's still just mist."

"Yes, and?"

"You can... Well, in my experience you can just walk right through mist. If it's an alien taking on the physical appearance of mist, it would have to behave as mist, right? And even if it can follow us in this little tower thing, it doesn't seem to have power beyond the woods. Can't we make a break for it?"  
The Doctor scrubbed his free hand down his face. "I don't know," he admitted. "It would have to act like mist, but it's like with any civilization at this point, refusing generosity. Whatever's out there besides this seems to want to kill us, because we're being protected."

"Or we're being preserved," Rose retorted.

The Doctor nodded. "Well, yes, that's a possibility as well."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They could want to eat us, they could've done that to Leslie." The Doctor paused and glanced up at the gently swirling mist all around them. "But look, here we are, and it seems to have gone dormant for the night. At least this stuff has. Completely asleep. And look, we're parked right over some moss. If you ask me, I'd say it wants us to sleep as well."

"But you don't sleep," Rose felt the need to point out.

His gaze softened as he looked at her. "But you do. You'll need rest, and since I don't, I'll keep watch. I'll sit next to you."

Knowing that there was never any point in arguing with him, Rose nodded and sat down on the springy moss. She was sort of tired; visiting your mum and then going off to fight aliens will have that effect on you. The Doctor took off his overcoat and laid it over her like a blanket before taking his post at her side.

"Don't worry," he said reassuringly, "I won't dose off."

"Don't think I've ever seen you sleep, actually."

"Christmas."

"That was unconscious. Doesn't count. Wasn't really peaceful."

"Fine, you win," he smiled down at her, and she grinned back. He squeezed her hand and looked around at the mist. 

"Get some sleep, Rose. We seem to have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow."

"Like what?"

"Talk to some locals, for starters. Haven't decided what, after that."

Rose burrowed down into the coat, the coolness from the mist cooling her down. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason she felt unnerved but still... Safe.


	6. Chapter 6

"Rose," she felt someone shaking her arm, his voice quiet.

Having been forced to be well acquainted with getting up very, very quickly, Rose sat up, panicked, on full alert. "What is it?"

He rubbed a hand up her back to calm her and pointed around them. "Look."

She saw why he had woken her up. The mist that had been in a wall all around them was starting to dissipate, but without the wetness of actual mist. It simply vanished from the top down until they were merely sitting in the darkest moments before the dawn in a forest, the mist completely gone.

Rose realized she had been gaping and shut her mouth with an audible click. "A bit weird, that," she murmured quietly. "Why do you think-?"

The Doctor shook his head in response. "I don't know. I know thousands of languages, but don't know how to communicate with that. It's got to be a creature." He stood and pulled Rose to her feet before taking her hand. He gave her the once over to see if the mist had affected her before pulling her off.

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Yes, I'm brilliant."

"It's dark as anything, Doctor," he didn't miss the blasé tone in her voice.

"Oi, I can still see," he said, exasperated. "Oh, ye of little faith, Rose Tyler."

She giggled and nudged his shoulder with hers. "So where we off to then, to find information about this stuff?"

"A pub." He replied far too simply.

"Doctor, it's barely morning. Who's going to be at a pub this early?" She furrowed her brows at him.

He stopped and turned to her, a shocked expression on his face. "Rose. We're in Scotland."  
**********

So they headed to the pub, the sun rising before them. The Doctor let Rose stop and watch it rise over the buildings, her mouth curved into a smile and her eyes filled with wonder.   
The Doctor couldn't help but watch her, his eyes trained on her excited profile. He had trouble trying to figure out why she saw everything as so wonderful when there was so much that was so dark in the world. She saw light where there wasn't much, specifically, in him.

"It's so wonderful, to not see a sunrise over the city," Rose said, her voice so quiet the Doctor almost didn't hear her.

The Doctor faced where she was facing and furrowed his brows. "Is it really that different?"

"Yeah," she said simply, then shook herself from her daze. "Yeah, alright, let's go."

They weren't far from the pub, and the Doctor made sure Rose stayed behind him. He knew the types that stayed in Scotland's bars. Especially when there were pretty young women. He kept her close to him, sending glares at anyone that even offered her a second glance.

"You alright?" She asked lowly as he pulled out a chair for her and sat next to her.

"Yep," he said cheerfully, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Here, look at that man over there, doesn't he look shady? I'll bet he knows something."

"Call him over," Rose replied.

The Doctor waved over the barman and pointed to the man. "Buy him a drink compliments of the Doctor and Rose Tyler." he fished out what Rose liked to call "convenient currency" and handed it to the man.

The barman nodded in return and got back to it. The Doctor beamed at Rose and pulled her closer into his side when he saw another man eyeballing her. He didn't like the possessiveness he felt for her, the affection that overwhelmed him when she looked at him. He just didn't know quite how to handle it. 

"Doctor, I can fend off a couple of strange men," Rose chided him gently, but he noticed she certainly wasn't pulling away from him.

"Have you had to?" He asked quietly.

"Doctor, you know all of time and space. I'm a 21st Century Earth girl. There are plenty of strange men around clubs and stuff."

"You should never have to deal with that," the Doctor said firmly.

"Really don't have to now."

The man that the Doctor thought was rather sketchy showed up at that moment and sat across from them. "Hello. Doctor and Rose Tyler, is it? Thanks for the drink."

"No problem," The Doctor grinned. "Thought we'd talk to you for a minute."

The man looked confused. "What about?"

'The mist that settles over the moors," Rose interjected. "It's, um," she worried at her bottom lip and glanced at the Doctor, "It's rather strange."

"Oh, we've all heard about the mist," the man waved her off. "You're from London, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Rose said before the Doctor could start rambling.

"Right, so you've heard the legends?"

"We've heard about Leslie," The Doctor said grimly. "The disappearances, and the strange behavior."

"The mist makes the dogs act up," the man leaned forward on the table. "What do you make of that? You two investigators?"

"You could say that," The Doctor nodded. "We'd like to help, maybe see if we can find Leslie."

"You won't find Leslie," the man's face fell. "She's gone."

"Are you her father?" Rose asked quietly.

"Uncle," the man replied gruffly. 

Rose leaned forward and took the man's hand. The Doctor let his arm fall from her shoulders, but he kept his hand on her waist, his arm protectively trailing down her back. "I'm sorry," she said, squeezing his hand. "We'll do our best to get her back. I promise. Tell us what you know."

"I don't know much," Leslie's uncle admitted. "Just that her friend had been in the mist before and his dog almost attacked him, but then she didn't. Just stood there, protecting him. It was so odd, he said, but he never really talked about it."

"Why not?" the Doctor asked.

"Guess he thought it was so weird, he didn't want to tell anyone. But other than that," the man shook his head. "I guess it's just what you know, what you've heard. And you'll really try to help?" he asked quietly.

"Absolutely," Rose said enthusiastically. "We'll do all we can to get Leslie back, I promise you that."

The man nodded. He smiled weakly. "Thanks for the drink," he said before wandering out of the pub.


	7. Chapter 7

Rose turned to face the Doctor, resting her elbow on the table and her cheek in her hand. "What do you think?" She asked quietly as he drew his hand back to his side to face her better.

"I think that Leslie's still out there," the Doctor said.

Rose furrowed her brow. That wasn't exactly the 'call to action' she had been expecting after an encounter like that. "That's awful optimistic, Doctor," she began carefully. "We can't just assume that she's alright."

"No, that's right, we can't," the Doctor admitted. "But I've got... I've got a feeling, Rose, I really do. She's not dead."

Rose reached over to lay a hand over his. "Please don't assume." She whispered. "It hurts you when you assume."

He offered her a small smile and kissed her on the cheek before pulling her to her feet. "We'll be fine, don't worry. I think we ought to go back to the forest."

"It's daylight," Rose protested as he pulled her out the door by her hand. 

"The mist doesn't come until night."

"We'll find something to busy ourselves with," The Doctor said nonchalantly, not noticing how Rose's cheeks flushed.

"But d'you think we'll find anything?" Rose pressed. 

"Oh, you'll need something to eat, won't you?" The Doctor continued as though she hadn't spoken. He dug his free hand into his pocket and pulled out packet of what Rose assumed was dried beef and tossed it to her. 

She caught it and stuffed it into her hoodie pocket. "Doctor," she said warningly.

"Alright," he sighed. "I don't know if we'll find anything, but I know I want to walk around in that forest for awhile, see if we can find anything interesting."

She smiled in his direction and bumped his shoulder. "And by that you mean point the sonic screwdriver at stuff for awhile?"

He returned her grin. "You know me so well, Rose Tyler."

Assured by him finally returning the conversation she had in mind, she ripped into the back of dried beef and they made idle conversation.

He was far too optimistic for being the Doctor. He wasn't exactly pessimistic, she knew that, but she also knew that he was cautious. Him assuming Leslie was alive was really odd, even for him, the Doctor, the king of all things odd. But his hand in hers reassured her, hoping that something so normal would keep things that way. 

They reached the forest in a reasonable amount of time, the Doctor growing more and more excited as they reached it. A bounce entered his step.

"Think of it, Rose! We're on the same playing field. Neither of us know a blessed thing that the other doesn't. This is something we can figure out together."

She had to smile at the thought. "That's true," She mused as they passed the TARDIS. "Doctor, don't you want to test the atmosphere or something in the TARDIS? To figure out, I dunno, something weird about the area?" 

The Doctor paused for a moment, offering the blue box a thoughtful glance. "No," he said decidedly, pulling Rose along their way. "Maybe tomorrow, after we've watched some more. I'd like another night of study."

Rose arched an eyebrow. "Do you mean a night of being imprisoned by fog?" She asked skeptically.

"If it comes to that," The Doctor said casually. Rose snorted. "Alright, it's likely."

It was barely mid-morning, and Rose couldn't imagine what they'd be up to for many hours that could keep them busy.

"The air isn't thinner," The Doctor mentioned after scanning the air. There's nothing new to me, nothing odd." He lifted a shoulder in a half hearted shrug. "I don't detect anything in the air."

"Maybe we should scan the mist when it comes back," Rose suggested.

The Doctor paused and nodded. "Right then. We'll do that." 

They started walking again, deeper into the brush, when Rose's foot caught on a branch and she lurched forward. The Doctor caught her, holding her upright with extreme ease. "You alright?"

Rose's head swam with his proximity, his breath rustling her hair, but she eventually remembered herself and nodded slowly. "Yeah, look, it was a branch."

The Doctor regretfully let her go to look behind her. "No, Rose, it wasn't. There's nothing here."

Rose turned and peered around his shoulder. "There was, I caught my foot under it."

The Doctor squatted down, running the palm of his hand over the overgrowth, feeling for anything that Rose could've caught on, but felt nearly nothing. "Rose, there's nothing here," he said, his voice full of intrigue. 

He pulled Rose down next to him, and she went to her knees in the grass. She ran her own hands over the ground. "Okay, yes, weird," she agreed. "It was definitely there, Doctor, I don't trip over nothing."

"That's right," the Doctor agreed, "You don't."

He pushed some leaves and dead grass aside to reveal what Rose had possibly tripped on. It appeared to be a lever that sunk into the wood of a tree root. "You triggered it," he said.

"With what?" Rose asked, almost afraid to touch it.

"Walk over it again, keep an eye on it though," the Doctor stood up and stuffed his hands into his pockets and watched her as she stood. She made to take a step, and the lever shot out of the ground, right where her foot was about to catch it.

"Oh," she said, surprise filling her voice. 

The Doctor tugged her back away from the lever and ran the sonic over it. "Your heat triggered it," he told her after the scan had finished. "It's... What it leads to, I don't know, but I guess it goes somewhere. Want to find out?"

Rose nodded eagerly. "Wait," she said, "Is this gonna have to be one of those things that I'll have to do alone and just see if I live or not?"

The Doctor laughed. "No, I'll follow you," he assured her. "But there's one thing I actually might know," he said thoughtfully.

"What's that, Doctor?" She asked, gazing up at him.

"This isn't just about the mist."


	8. Chapter 8

"What do you mean, not just about the mist?" Rose asked, furrowing her brows.

"There's something else going on here," The Doctor replied simply. "It's not just the mist capturing people, or doing whatever it is it's doing. Step over it again, Rose."

Rose backed up and made to take a step. This time, the second her foot hit the ground the forest floor fell our from beneath her. She let out a startled yelp, but before she could fall through, the Doctor stood and grabbed her, pulling her out of the new hole.

The two of them fell backwards into the brush, Rose ending up face down on the Doctor. 

"You alright?" He asked, his hands on her waist. 

"Yeah," Rose nodded and rolled off of him, wincing at a pain in her ankle. She rolled it in its socket for a moment and stood where the Doctor had moved. 

"Look here," the Doctor said as she approached. Without taking his eyes after the new hole in the ground that hadn't closed up, he reached over and pulled her close to him so she could get a good view. 

It was just big enough for Rose to slip through, and the Doctor would've had no hope of following her.

"You want me to go down?" Rose asked, hoping against hope that he would say no, she shouldn't go down there.

"Only if we can make it bigger!" The Doctor said, grinning at her. He squatted down and started tearing at the moss and foliage, trying to make the gaping hole big enough for the two of them.

He went rigid there, his hand full of grass. Rose watched, mildly alarmed, as he squeezed it, his knuckles going white around it.

"Doctor?" Rose whispered, her hand hovering over his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

He stood slowly, his eyes locked on something unseen just beyond the hole, in front of a large tree. His whole face was taut, his eyes snapping with anger. He pushed Rose behind him, gripping her wrist. She laid her free hand on his shoulder, trying nearly unsuccessfully to watch his face. 

"Leave her alone," The Doctor growled, his eyes honing in even more on something Rose really couldn't see.

Her heart started to beat quicker, her breathing turning shallow. "Doctor?" She asked, her voice coaxing, trying to remain steady. "What's there?"

The Doctor didn't seem to hear her. He only seemed to be aware of his fingers locked around her wrist. He stared down whatever was in front of them. "You will not touch her, do you understand me? You won't lay a finger on her!"

His voice was plateauing at a hysterical shout. "Get out! I won't help you if you threaten her, understand! Leave!"

A rush of wind passed over the both of them, whipping Rose's hair into the Doctor's face, his coat billowing between her legs. Leaves swirled through the air, creating a tornado of distracting green near the tree. And suddenly the air went completely still and the Doctor collapsed onto the ground, spent.

"Doctor!" Rose cried out, sitting in the brush next to him. She laid a hand on his shoulder. He'd passed out, his eyes shut and muscles lax. "Doctor, please," she shook him gently, afraid of hurting him in some way.

He moaned in pain, turning his face towards her and reaching a hand, landing it easily on her cheek. "Rose," he panted, and his eyes shot open. He sat up. "We've got to get out of here," he said, leveling his gaze on her. He glanced to where his palm rested on her face and pulled it back as if he had been burned. Rose did her best not to look offended. 

"Why? Doctor, what happened?" Rose asked, standing as he did. "Who was that? Are you alright?"

The Doctor didn't answer any of her questions, that she might've expected. He simply grabbed her hand. "Run!" His breath wheezed and he pulled her stumbling after him.

"Doctor, what was it?" 

"It got into my head, Rose. You know I'm telepathic, it is too, whatever it is, and I don't know what it is."

The idea of the Doctor not knowing something about an alien or any sort of being made Rose about seven different kinds of nervous, ranging from general anxiety to heart gripping fear.

And he was afraid of this thing.

The Doctor was afraid.

They stumbled through the forest, the Doctor leading her blindly back to the TARDIS, his breathing heavy and panicked.

"What did it do to you?" Rose shouted, hoping the sound would reach him, with as preoccupied as he was. "In your head, I mean?"

"It saw some of my memories, my thoughts, Rose!" He hollered back as he pushed the door to the TARDIS open, shoving Rose protectively in front of him. 

She stumbled inside, getting rid of the momentum before turning around to the Doctor. His eyes were wild, his back pressed against the door that he had just slammed closed rather violently.

"What memories? What thoughts!" Rose asked lowly, almost afraid to hear the answer that she wasn't sure he would give.

He gulped and licked his lips, his chest heaving beneath his pinstripes. He shook his head and carded a hand through his hair. "No, Rose, I-" He shook his head.

'Did they see Gallifrey?" She asked, trying to keep her voice soft just in case it was touchy, that whatever it was did indeed see Gallifrey. 

'No, Rose," the Doctor's eyes swam with panic and something soft. "Rose, it saw you."


	9. Chapter 9

"Me?" Rose furrowed her brow. "Doctor, I'm here with you anyway, they already see me." 

"Whatever it is, Rose, it's playing on my emotions and enhancing them. You need to leave."

"Leave!" Rose cried, crossing her arms, "What's that supposed to mean? Why?"

"Rose," The Doctor growled, clutching at the railings along the walkway to the console. "Please, go to your room."

"Why?" Rose was not backing down. She leveled her gaze on him. "Tell me what it's doing."

"It got into my head," the Doctor began, his chest heaving, "It saw you, because I was thinking of you, and it's playing off my emotions and now I can't stop."

"Can't stop what?"

"Thinking about you," The Doctor's head hung forward and he let out a shuddering breath.

"Doctor? Why's it doing that?" Rose asked cautiously, trying to take his mind off of whatever it was, which was apparently her.

She was flattered, her heart was racing, he was thinking of her. She wanted him to think of her, and it was not platonic right now, the way he was acting.

"Because it thinks we want to fight it," the Doctor replied forcefully. "It thinks we want to kill it, but we don't, we want to help it, but we're curious."

Rose's mind was in about a thousand places at once, running through thoughts that were relevant to the topic at hand, and some that really, really weren't.

But he would be very, very, willing, wouldn't he?

If he was currently thinking in that way at all, which was very possible because of his current posture. His breathing was all of a sudden ragged, and he wasn't making eye contact.

"Doctor?" She said cautiously. "Look at me."

"Rose, get out," he replied, his voice severely panicked and edgy. "You need to go, go to your room, wait till I come get you," the Doctor said. 

It was a command, she knew it, and she knew he was just trying to take care of her. He thought he was going to be dangerous to her, and the fact that she wasn't complaining made her feel a little guilty.

"Doctor, I-"

"Rose, please." Now it wasn't complaining, it was begging.

"Come get me the second it's better," Rose said, backing up slowly. 

"Go!" The Doctor cried, near hysterics. Rose turned tail and ran, panicked, and she wasn't sure why.

The TARDIS landed her room right around the corner, and Rose darted right into it, slamming the door behind her. Without thinking, she walked to the desk and turned on the computer the Doctor had bought her. It was one of the fastest in the universe with the biggest data base. She logged on and started searching for mist.

Mist

Nothing good.

Strange mist

Nothing

Strange mist Scotland

Ah-ha!

Rose scrolled through the informational page, but the only things it told her were of folklore, nothing serious. It seemed as though many people treated things as a joke, especially after Leslie disappeared.

Rose decided that was because they needed a reason to not be afraid. It was the same reason people on Earth refused to see aliens even though they were right in their faces almost all the time.  
Humans were thick, and she knew that better than anyone.

She read through the rest of the article silently. There was a lot of information of the mist affecting the behavior of dogs. It made them more aggressive, and it had certainly done that to the Doctor. He always said he had superior biology, but maybe he was so superior that he was on the same level as the mist, and it could get inside his head. 

It made more sense than anything else she had thought of. He was definitely on the same level as the mist, were it an alien. That would be the reason she couldn't see or hear it as he was speaking to it.

She ran a hand into her hair, letting out a long sigh through her nose as she scrolled through some more pointless information. She whipped her head around as she saw her door slam open so aggressively it his the opposite wall.

The Doctor stood there, bereft of his coat and jacket, his hair tousled, clearly from running his hands through it. 

"Rose," he choked out.

"What's the matter?" Rose asked, standing and turning to face him. Seeing him like this made her heart beat pick up, and though she felt guilty about it, the way his eyes looked didn't send her complaining. In fact, she was starting to feel her legs go weak. "Are you-"

He took two long strides towards her and crushed his mouth to hers. Without even thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist, folding her against him possessively. 

He only waited for a moment before he deepened the kiss, running his tongue along her bottom lip, and she allowed him entrance, unable to refuse him what she had wanted for so long. 

"Rose," he hissed against her mouth before pushing her against the far wall of her bedroom, not being able to get close enough to her.

She ran her hands up into his hair, tugging his head to get his mouth more fully sealed against hers.

Suddenly, the Doctor pulled away from her and stumbled backwards, gasping for breath. "I'm sorry," he stammered, "I shouldn't have-"

"No, you should've," Rose replied sharply. "It just made you lose you inhibitions, didn't it?"

The Doctor paused, a little taken aback. "Yes, it sensed that I wanted to touch you and that I shouldn't, so it... It made me want to, and it was threatening to hurt you, and I-" he clamped his mouth shut.

"Guess we'd better face this as a team then," Rose suggested, her voice low, as she approached him.

"We're already a team," the Doctor frowned. "What do you-"

In response she pulled him down into another crushing kiss.


	10. Chapter 10

The Doctor pushed against Rose's hips, breaking the kiss and making her back up. "Rose, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"But you did," Rose cut him off, "And let's be honest, we both wanted you to."

He gazed at her, obvious longing behind his eyes.  "Yes," he said quietly.  He licked his lips and sighed heavily, "Listen, I shouldn't have let it get control of me."

Rose grabbed him by the lapels and shook him gently.  "It obviously did this to get into our heads.  If we, say, give in," she shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, "We'll be stronger up against them.  It's not like it was anything you didn't want.  Or nothing I didn't want," she added quietly.

He stared at her, and she could see the thoughts whirring in his head.  He studied her eyes for a moment, then lifted a hand to cup her cheek.  "Alright, then," he said so quietly Rose almost didn't hear it.  He leaned close to her and pressed his lips to hers, gently this time.

Rose sighed against his mouth and set her hands on his waist, the most tender kiss she'd ever experienced in her life.  After a moment, the Doctor pulled away.  "This is alright with you?" He questioned, touching his forehead to hers.

"Yeah," she replied, "Yes.  I've wanted this for a long time, alright?  Now, let's figure out this mist, yeah?"

"Alright!" The Doctor said, his voice suddenly loud, giving Rose a start.  As they walked out of the room, Rose noticed the Doctor's coat and jacket strewn down the hallway towards her room.  The Doctor picked them up, not addressing it or looking at her, nor noticing how she was grinning to herself.

"So, it can make you lose inhibitions," the Doctor began, reaching for Rose's hand after pulling his coat on.  "It can make you more aggressive.  And it senses heat to trap you."  He stopped right before the door, almost making Rose run into it.  "But why would it want a person?"

"I don't know, Doctor," Rose said patiently.

The Doctor turned and grinned manically at her before pressing down to kiss her firmly.

"What was that for?" Rose asked, smiling at him as they exited the TARDIS.

"Well, apparently I can do that now," the Doctor said simply.  "And I'd like to keep doing it as often as possible."

Rose made a note to say thank you to the mist whenever they officially met it.

The dark mood was still settled over the forest, and it wasn't much later than it had been when they had run to the TARDIS, possibly an hour at the most. 

The Doctor pulled Rose along to the exact spot where the hole had been.  "Right back where we started," he murmured softly, tracing his thumb over the back of her hand.

She walked over the spot again, drawing the lever up and making the hole appear.  The two of them started to tear the grass away to allow enough room for the both of them to slip into it.  Rose cleaned out the underside of her fingernails as the Doctor licked a blade of grass.

"Find anything?" She asked, half amused and half disgusted. 

"There's definitely a taste to it that's not of Earth," the Doctor told her, sounding very sure of himself, and very sure of the hand on her leg.  "But I don't know what it is."

"Is it the mist?"

The Doctor shrugged.  "Your guess is as good as mine.  I have a feeling the mist isn't toxic, but it obviously does something and I don't think I'll put myself into that willingly, if it's all the same to you."

Rose laughed.  "Alright, do you think it's safe then?  To go down there?"

The Doctor switched on his sonic screwdriver and pointed it into the hole.  "It's a straight drop down," he said, shutting the light off of pocketing the device.  "No way to say if it's safe, but my guess is that anyone that's taken, they want alive."

Rose studied his profile.  "What do you think?"

"I think we should try."

"I thought you might."

He beamed at her.  "What do you say, Rose Tyler?  Are you up for it?"

She laughed as he reached out his hand for her and swung his legs over the edge of the hole.  She did the same, lacing their fingers together.  "I'm up for it.  If we do it together, that is."

His gaze turned tender, and he couldn't resist leaning in to kiss her again.  "Always together," he murmured softly. 

That was all she needed to nod resolutely before they both shifted into the black abyss below them. 


	11. Chapter 11

To Rose, they fell through the blackness for several hours.  It felt like years, and the only thing stabilizing her existence was the Doctor's hand in hers.

The Doctor, however, knew that they only fell for about thirty seconds.  He enjoyed the feeling of Rose's body heat being the only thing accompanying the wind as they were forced downwards.

Contrary to Rose's belief, they did _not_ land in the center of the Earth, but rather in a giant mound of moss and leaves. 

Both of them let out a cry of surprise as they hit the pile.  Rose's hand was wrenched from the Doctor's as the force of gravity threw her down the pile to a metal floor.  She sat up and touched her head, dazed.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked, crawling to her side and cradling her head in his hand. 

Rose nodded slowly.  "Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, and he stood, pulling her with him and taking her hand again.

The pile of foliage they had landed in was right up against a wall.  Had they fallen even a few inches back, they would've run their heads along a steel wall all the way down.  There was a bit of room on either side of the pile, where Rose had fallen instead of hit a wall.

Now, they stood before a long hallway that went on for so long that it seemed to fade into oblivion.  It made Rose feel a little dizzy.  The lights that led down the hallway were certainly not of Earth.

"Aliens for sure now, yeah?" Rose asked, turning to the Doctor.

He seemed to be studying the hall.  "Yep!" He said, popping the 'p' so loudly that it echoed down the corridor before them.  "Definitely alien, but..." he chewed his bottom lip, "I don't know about going down that hallway."

"There's no where else to go," Rose protested. 

The Doctor paused for a moment, "It's definitely not safe.  A hallway that long? Never trust corridors, Rose, it's almost most definitely a trap."

"You think?" She asked, arching a brow.  "But what could they possibly want with a hallway like that?  What's at the end?"

"Curiosity killed the cat," the Doctor warned.

"And satisfaction brought it back," Rose retorted.

The Doctor turned to her, a shocked and admiring look on his face.  "Rose Tyler, are you contradicting me?"

She grinned and moved a little closer to him and pressed up against him.  "I absolutely am."

"You being that close to me is erasing all traces of logic from my very big brain."

"Maybe that was the point," she purred.

Their banter was cut off by a loud clang at the back of the hallway, jolting them to attention.  The end of the corridor was still out of sight, and Rose squinted to try and see what was there.

"Can you see?" She asked, her voice hushed.

"No, I can't," the Doctor replied.  "We need to go back up."

"I thought we needed to investigate," Rose pointed out.  "How are we going to do that if we don't go forward?"

"How are we going to do that if one of us gets cut in half?" The Doctor retorted.

Rose clenched her jaw for a moment, mulling that over. "Well, we can't go back up.  It's too high."

"That's an illusion, Rose.  How long do you think we were falling?"

Rose paused and tried to recall exactly that.  She lifted a shoulder.  "felt like hours," she admitted.  "Like forever, or something."

The Doctor nodded, having anticipated an answer like that.  "Do you want to know how long it actually was?"

Rose furrowed her brows.  "How can you tell?"

He tapped his forehead.  "Time sense.  It was only about thirty seconds."

He tugged her back towards the moss and pointed up through the hole they had fallen through.  They could clearly see the sunlight shining down through the top of it, and climbing back up was definitely doable.

"How is that possible?" Rose asked, shocked.  "Did it get in my head, like the TARDIS?"

The Doctor made a non-committal sound.  "It's possible that the soil here is sentient.  Very possible, in fact.  But we can still climb back up.  You saw when we were digging, it's very soft."

Rose laid a hand on the dirt and noticed that he was right.  She could get a very strong handle on the soil and pull herself up, but that thought made her rather nervous.  She bit her lip and fidgeted next to the Doctor.  "I don't know," she said, sounding nervous.

"I want to see the mist another night," he said firmly.  "If we're missing something, I want to find out this evening."  He turned to her, his gaze turned soft.  "That alright with you?"

She smiled at his willingness to ask her opinion.  "I guess since you asked so nicely," she said teasingly.

He nudged her forward.  "I'll climb up right behind you, alright?"

She nodded as he helped her take the first foothold in the dirt.  "Alright."

She moved slowly, and managed to shift herself upwards.  "Let's go, then."

Sensing her nervousness, he brushed the hair away from her neck and let his fingers trail all the way down her back.  "Trust me," he said quietly.  "I won't let you fall."

 


	12. Chapter 12

The Doctor helped Rose up into the first dirt filled step, his hands supporting her waist.  Immediately Rose's only thought was how stupid this was, that she would definitely fall, but then she remembered that this was alien dirt.  Sentient, even. 

"What if it doesn't want us going up?" Rose asked suddenly, freezing where she was.  "If it's sentient, it'll make us fall."

"And we'll fall right back onto the moss that we hit in the first place," the Doctor replied.  "Really, Rose, there's nothing to worry about.  Trust me."

She blew out her cheeks in a heavy sigh, and shifted upwards.  To her complete shock, the dirt seemed to help her, moving underneath her hands and feel to help her get a better hold on it.

"Doctor, it's moving!" Rose exclaimed.

"Helping or hurting?" The Doctor asked.

She watched as the dirt moved, becoming less packed but no less sturdy, moving her hands upwards the light.  It slowly shifted under her feet, and though she felt unsafe for a moment, it secured and started to push her upwards.

"Helping!" She cried, laughing.  "Get up next to me, look."

The Doctor scrambled to climb next to Rose, and the soil seemed to wait for him to get a hold before moving Rose, the Doctor now situated next to her.

"This is remarkable!" The Doctor exclaimed as the soil rolled under them, curving under them and pushing them upwards.  "I've never seen anything like this."

"You haven't?"  Rose furrowed her brows.  "Sentient dirt, that's the new thing here?"

"Oh, yes," The Doctor threw her a gleeful grin.  "This is wonderful.  Molto Bene, brilliant even!"

The both of them couldn't help but be mesmerized by the sentient soil pushing them upwards, picking up speed.  Instead of being alarmed, the Doctor started to laugh, and therefore put Rose at ease.

It didn't feel like hours this time, like it had with the falling, and suddenly they were launched out of the hole and knocked to the ground, the Doctor landing quite ungracefully on top of Rose.

"Hello," he grinned at her, adjusting so his hands were on either side of her shoulders.

"Hello," she returned his smile. 

He bent down to kiss her, obviously still enjoying this new found right.  Then he opened his eyes rather suddenly.  "I think you and I need to talk later," he whispered. 

Rose nodded slowly, running her fingers over the stubble on his cheeks.  "I think so too."

Blowing out a sigh of relief, the Doctor rolled off of her.  He stood and helped Rose to her feet.  "Alright then, where are we off to next?"

Rose lifted a shoulder in a shrug.  "Dunno, Doctor, you were the one who wanted to stay another night to see the mist again."

"Well, yes, I did, but we are going to have to wander the forest for another," he paused for a moment and cocked his head, "Eight hours.  Have you still got that dried meat to eat?"

Rose reached into her pocket and dug around, finding the packet.  "Yeah, I've got it, not hungry just yet, though."

"Just making sure you're taken care of," the Doctor said nonchalantly.

They marked the place where Rose had tripped with a little red flag that the Doctor pulled out of his bigger on the inside pockets so they could come back for it later.

"Why do you have that?" Rose asked, furrowing her brows.

"You never know when you might need a little red flag, Rose," the Doctor responded easily, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

So with eight hours of wandering until sunset, the Doctor set out to get the two of them as lost as humanly possible, which, for the Doctor, was very, very lost.  Inwardly Rose thought it was probably one of his best skills.

They were easily turned around in about an hour, and at this point the only direction the Doctor knew was which way the TARDIS was.

"East," he told her, "She's East, I can feel her.  If we can find our way back to her, we're never truly lost."

Rose tried not to think too hard about Krop Tor.

Around four hours in, Rose started to munch on the dried meat, offering some to the Doctor, who wouldn't take it.  He assured her he didn't need to eat, but he could simply murder a cup of tea.  She had to agree, and they promised each other that when they had their talk, it would, in fact, be over a cup of tea and some biscuits. 

Five hours in, and Rose was starting to resist the urge to slap the Doctor across the face just to get a reaction because she was so bored.  And tired.

She stopped walking, making him tug on her hand.  He turned to face her, worried.  "Are you alright?"

She nodded, "I'm really tired, Doctor."

"Oh!" He pulled her to the nearest tree and sat under it before shucking off his large jacket.  "We'll sleep till sunset."

"Sorry," she said as he laid down and pulled her half on top of him, the coat covering both of them.  "Stupid ape needs, I guess."

The Doctor cringed.  "I should've never said that to you, Rose.  It was wrong, and you are not stupid, nor an ape."

She wrapped an arm around his waist, snuggling into him.  "Glad to hear you say that," she murmured.

He ran his fingers through her hair, admiring the way she looked with her head pillowed on his chest (From what he could see of her, that was).  He listened to her breathing even out, and felt her fall asleep atop him.

An overwhelming sense of protectiveness for her washed over him, and even if he had been tired, he wouldn't have gone to sleep, just in case there was a threat that needed taken care of.

He continued to run his fingers through her hair as he looked around the forest.  There was nothing odd about, but he continued to watch until the mist descended. 


	13. Chapter 13

The mist crept upon them, almost gently this time. The Doctor shook Rose's shoulder, and she roused with a low sound of confusion. She lifted her head from the Doctor's chest to glance around at the descending mist.   
It moved gracefully across the grass, carrying more wind with it this time. Rose fully sat up, the Doctor's coat falling across their laps. He followed her up and rested his forearms on his thighs, their shoulders touching.  
They watched as the mist didn't shield them, but instead rolled and moved across their legs, crawling up them.   
Without saying a word to each other, they both stood, Rose shoving the coat at the Doctor, which he quickly put on. The mist followed them, tracing cool paths on their bare skin where there hadn't been a temperature before. Once it crept up to Rose's face, she started to panic.  
"Doctor," she said worriedly, "It's not protecting us, like yesterday."  
"No, it's not," the Doctor agreed.   
"Can you hear it?" Rose asked, glancing up into his eyes, "Is it speaking to you?"  
"Yes," the Doctor tugged her close to him, shielding her with his arms, and she wasn't sure why. "I can hear it. It's not speaking, it's hissing. Listen closely, Rose, and you'll hear it too."  
Rose gripped the Doctor's coat, trying to let the sound of the mist wash over her, to see if she could understand. The silence in the forest turned loud in her ears, and she heard it: the hissing. It was much like the sound of a parselmouth in Harry Potter, Rose decided, but even more menacing. She listened, but the TARDIS didn't seem to be translating what the mist was saying.  
"Doctor, can you understand it?" She whispered.   
The Doctor took a pause. "Yes."  
"I can't."  
"That's alright."  
It turned dead quiet, aside from the mist whispering through the trees and around their clothes. It crept along Rose's collarbone, lifting and pushing against her skin and towards the Doctor.  
Now was usually the moment when they would try to run, but the Doctor seemed glued to the spot. He pulled her flush against him, his arms wrapping around her entirely. Rose tried to keep an eye on some part of the mist, which was nearly impossible with the way her head was crushed to his chest.   
The Doctor heaved a sigh under her cheek and started hissing in time with the mist, his voice carrying an eerie tone through the woods. Rose listened, trying to figure out why the TARDIS wasn't translating it. The Doctor's hissing turned rapid, overpowering the mist completely and tightening his hold on her, almost restricting her breathing.  
That was when the movement started. Rose started to be pulled out of the Doctor's grasp, and he stopped hissing to grasp for her desperately. "No!" He shouted in English, grabbing her by her hoodie and trying to pull her back.  
She wasn't sure why she was being pulled, but grabbed for the lapels of the Doctor's jacket, sharply jerking her wrists to pull them back together. The Doctor landed his hands on her waist, gripping her hoodie and t-shirt in his fists.   
"Don't let go," he said, his eyes alight with frantic energy.  
"What did it say to you?" Rose asked, feeling fear creep through her at the unseen pull. She wasn't convinced that it was the mist.  
"It wants to take one of us, Rose, it's gonna trap one of us if we get separated, we have to hold on." The Doctor emphasized this with another pull, knocking her forearms against his chest.  
"Not lettin' you go," she replied, readjusting her grip. "Not if I can help it."  
He was about to reply when the mist pulled away suddenly and swarmed in on both of them, obscuring each other from view.   
The last thing the Doctor heard was Rose's strangled scream as they were ripped from each other.  
"Rose!" The Doctor shouted, running the direction she had just been, hoping to catch up with her. "Rose! Rose!"   
There was no answer. He waved his arm in front of his face to get the mist out of his face, but it was still clouding him completely. He stopped, his insides reeling cold, as he realized exactly what had just happened.  
The mist had stopped speaking to him, and Rose was gone.


	14. Chapter 14

Rose woke up alone, strewn on a floor that felt like cold steel or metal.  She sat up, her head pounding.  The floor was white tile with some sort of black rock in it, the walls more blindingly white.  On the wall was a one-way mirror.  She stood and walked up to it, laying a hand on it.

From her time of travelling with the Doctor, she knew that it was definitely a one-way mirror because she was definitely a prisoner here.  She curled her hand into a fist and pounded it against the glass.  "Hey!" She shouted, knowing there was probably someone observing her from the other side.

She didn't get a response for her troubles.  A door appeared where there hadn't been a door before (alien tech, clearly) and a girl was shoved through.  She fell on her hands and knees, and the door disappeared behind her. 

Rose rushed forward to the girl and fell to her knees in front of her, taking her shoulders.  "Are you alright?"

The girl sat back on her haunches and clutched at Rose's arms.  "You're alive!  You're here and you're alive!" She cried, a panicked look in her hallowed eyes. 

The girl had tousled brown hair and clothes which hung off of her. 

"What've they done with you?" Rose asked, trying to keep her voice calm, but the girl was so panicked that she was starting to grow anxious herself.

The girl put a harsh finger to her lips and shook her head.  "They listen," she hissed.  "They listen!"

"Who?" Rose pressed, gripping the girl's shoulders tighter.  "Who are they?"

"I don't know," she whispered in response.  "They never show themselves, but people come, and they don't wake up, or they do wake up but they disappear right after."

"What do we do here?" Rose asked, "Why do they want us?"

"They leech us," the girl replied, her voice low and trembling.

Rose's eyes widened, her mind whirring a mile a minute with this new information.  Leeching.  That would mean taking something from them, and guessing from the girl's physical condition, it would be nutrients. 

"Leslie!" a voice filled the white room, but it was almost like it wasn't there, but still booming through them, rattling Rose's ribs and reverberating off the walls.  "Take Rose Tyler to the work room."

"Yes," Leslie bowed her head as Rose's eyes widened.

Leslie.  This was the girl who had gone missing, the friend of that man who had first discovered the mist's odd qualities.  She hadn't been killed!  Although part of her rejoiced at this, the look in the girl's eyes made Rose wonder if Leslie was better off dead.

Leslie stood and took Rose by the hand.  "I'll show you where we work," she said, her voice sounding dull and tired.  The door reappeared and she pulled Rose from the room.

************

"Rose!" The mist continued to whip around the Doctor, his coat flapping aggressively against his legs.

_Doctor_

"I can hear you!" The Doctor shouted at the sky.  "You're not mist!  Rose couldn't hear you, but I can!"

_Ah, yes, the Valiant Child, she was to die in battle.  And now she will.  Justice will be served, Lonely God._

"You won't hurt her!  You won't!" The Doctor shouted over the wind.  "Who are you?"

_Who I am in of no concern to you, Time Lord.  You needn't worry about me._

"You're right," the Doctor bit.  "I need to worry about Rose.  But I see you have me at a disadvantage.  You know my species, but I don't know yours."

_I know everyone's species.  You are Time Lord, she is Human.  And she reeks of the Void, your woman, as do you.  You should both be dead._

"Don't you tell me that she should be dead!" The Doctor shouted.  "Scan the memory bank for Canary Warf, and you'll see that we've got every right to live!"

  
_Time Lord,_ The mist's voice was condescending, _You see every timeline that there will ever be, surely you see the one that could've been._  


"Rose didn't die," the Doctor said sharply.  "I won't let her."

_That's not really up to you, is it?  She will die, and you will be alone._

"Stop it!" The Doctor's voice was well beyond calm, anger radiating off of him at the idea that Rose would be taken from him at any point in time.  "Just tell me where she is.  Tell me how to find her!"

_What sort would I be if I told you?  I need her.  I need humans.  I have no use for you, Time Lord.  Run home to your TARDIS, and leave your woman with me._

The Doctor froze. This thing really needed Rose for something, all people in fact. "Then why did you take Leslie but not her friends, eh?  Because that was you, wasn't it?  Who took Leslie."

_Yes.  I need specific people, Doctor, not everyone._

"How do you know my name?"

_That's not your name.  But if you must know, I've heard your woman say it.  Your Rose Tyler._

"Don't you dare defile her name," the Doctor glared around, the mist still almost entirely obscuring his view.  "You are not worthy of it.  You were the one who protected us last night!"

_I was not protecting the Wolf.  I was preserving her for later use._

The Doctor cringed at the thought, the word 'wolf' cutting through him like a knife.  He kept thinking that Bad Wolf was behind them, but it never seemed to be.

_The dawn rises, Time Lord.  Prepare for your first day of loneliness_

The mist rose, and the Doctor thought that would be the end of it, like yesterday.  But once it reached the treetops, it came crashing back down, knocking him to the ground.

"Don't you leave this!"  The Doctor shouted, scrambling to his feet.  "You coward!  You're a coward, taking her like that!" 

His hands clenched in fists, he stalked back to the TARDIS, a madman on a mission.

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

Leslie pulled Rose along through long, pale hallways that seemed to appear out of nowhere.  She seemed to know her way, but Rose wasn't sure how she was managing; all the hallways looked the same.  Finally she was led to a door.  Leslie stopped outside and glanced at Rose.

"This is where we work, Rose Tyler," Leslie said, her voice sounding hollow.  She smiled at Rose, her grin wide and unnatural.  "I was the one set to fetch you cause the Doctor wants to know where I am.  He knows I'm missing."

"How do you know about the Doctor?" Rose asked, her brows drawing together.  She resisted the urge to pull away from Leslie and bolt in the other direction, but the tension was obvious. 

Without thinking, she started to pull away, just to get a step away from the girl who had the grin of a maniac on.

"Don't run, Rose Tyler!" Leslie sing-songed in Rose's ear, dancing a little where she stood.  "I've got something to show you!  Where we work!  Where _you'll_ work, too!"

The grip she had on Rose's hand tightened to a vice and she pulled Rose through the door. 

Nothing would've prepared Rose for what was beyond that door. The Doctor had spoken of something similar, in the only moment he had mentioned Satellite 5.  A woman attached to so many wires. 

This was almost the same thing.  People were lined up in two long, seemingly never ending rows down the middle of a long room.  The rows faced each other with a hallway between them.

The people were standing stalk still, eyes wide open and plugged into several wires from their chests down to their ankles, including a wire exiting from the back of the neck.  Women had their hair pulled up to avoid the wire, and what would be a kind gesture made Rose cringe at the thought of the aliens who did it.

Leslie pulled Rose along the rows of people towards the end of the road.  Rose watched the people, their eyes dead and their mouths moving with words that never truly passed their lips.

Rose felt fear sink into the pit of her stomach.  This is what she was about to become.  She ripped her hand from Leslie's and started to tear back towards the door.  She felt nothing but the blood pounding in her ears as she neared the door.

"Don't run, Rose Tyler!  Stay and work!" Leslie called after her.

Rose's legs went numb, her head hit the floor, and she blacked out.

*********

The Doctor spent the morning digging through the woods, trying to find the hole again, but his little flag was gone. 

"Get back and talk to me!" The Doctor shouted at the sky, angry because he had no idea who he was addressing, and angry because he didn't have Rose next to him to help him sort this out.

But the mist only fell at night, and it was determined to keep it that way.  The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to calm himself down.  But he couldn't, because he didn't know where Rose was, and he promised Jackie he'd keep Rose safe, and dammit, he was going to! 

He wasn't near enough to panic, but he should've been, were he human.  He set off trucking through the woods again.

*********

When Rose woke up, her eyes were already open, and her head didn't hurt from her fall.  She still couldn't feel her legs, but she was standing.  She tried to move her arm, and couldn't.  She tried to move her hand, and couldn't.

She shifted her eyes and looked across from her... And saw a man standing in the exact same position there. 

She wanted to gasp, but the action was impossible.  Physically, well and truly, impossible.

It was that moment that she realized that she wasn't breathing.

She wanted to cry, and scream, and run, but she couldn't.  Instead she felt a warm prickling sensation at the back of her neck, where she had seen the wire coming from before.  The warm prickling tickled her blood down her back. 

She felt her voice whisper unheard words that she could feel in her mind.

They were all sorts of wrong words, the TARDIS didn't translate them and they were certainly some sort of alien language.  She could be cursing or talking about nuclear bombings for all she knew.  And that was the point, she knew nothing about what was happening.  This hissing that the mist was speaking in whispered through her own voice in her own head, in her own accent.

She wanted to hurt someone, she was so angry.  The Doctor would certainly not approve, she knew that much.  She tried to focus on moving a single body part, but she couldn't even think, not with all the words running through her head.

She wasn't even sure they were words, all stringing together in one long one, much like the Doctor sounded when he spoke Gallifreyan.  She knew, though, that this was definitely not Gallifreyan.  She'd heard him swear in it, and speak conversationally, but this didn't sound anything like it. 

It was impossible for it to be Gallifreyan anyways, she knew that.  But the longer she dried to decipher the words she was saying-or rather, hissing- she started feeling woozy and couldn't think about it anymore.

She could only think one English word as her memory started to fade just a touch. 

_Doctor._

_Doctor._

_Doctor! I'm coming to save you!_

She forgot that she was probably the one that needed saving.

 


	16. Chapter 16

The Doctor had given up finding traces of Rose on his own.  He headed back to the TARDIS and fervently started towards the console.

"Alright, old girl, let's find our Rose, eh?" The Doctor's voice was anxious as he started flipping switches and levers.  The TARDIS hummed at him and he read it well.  The time ship was telling him that she needed him to insert something of Rose's into the panels.

"I can't go into her room!" The Doctor said, trying to sound scandalized.

The TARDIS sent him a disapproving hum, along with the moments they had recently shared in that same room, mostly of the snogging and the touching.  The Doctor colored deeply and lowered his head.  "Okay, point taken," he mumbled before setting off down the hallway for Rose's room.

He shuffled around in her room for a bit, hoping to find something that he could use to put into the panels.  He scanned her desk with his eyes, not seeing anything that would have anything other than fingerprints.

He shifted his gaze to her en suite bathroom and made his way to the sink.  "Ah ha!" He shouted in triumph, snapping up her hairbrush and bolting back out to the console room.

He pulled a clump of hair out of the brush and shoved it into the console, glancing up at the console screens to watch the analysis as it was taking place. 

The only hope he had left was that he could track Rose by this part of her DNA.  If she'd lost a hair in the forest (Which was a hundred percent likely, because humans lose strands of hair every day) he could track her all the way through to where she was now, if he was lucky.

He found that when he met Rose, he seemed to become a man of luck, but he didn't know if it would be enough.

Circular Gallifreyan poured across the console screens, rolling and tumbling in blue and gold.  The Doctor read it quickly, watching as the words flashed by.  He was seeing things he already knew, the content of her DNA as he had seen it before, since he was her medical doctor in addition to her... Whatever he was.

Boyfriend? He asked himself as the TARDIS continued to read Rose's DNA.  No, he was too old to be anybody's boyfriend.  Lover?  No, not a lover.  Significant other? Date mate? Too stuffy and too immature.  He found that best mate still fit him, and the only step up was husband.  He nodded resolutely to himself and jerked when the TARDIS made a beeping noise at him.

The scan was complete.  The TARDIS presented him with a map of the Scotland moors and woods, with a pink and yellow trail where Rose had been.  The Doctor traced the path with his eyes, until he reached where the path of pink and yellow stopped. 

The Doctor furrowed his brows and enlarged the image of where Rose's path disappeared.  He groaned and smacked the console when he realized it was the exact point where she had been ripped from him in the night.  Whatever or whoever this was, was incredibly thorough.  And this made it one hundred percent obvious that it was not going to let Rose go anytime soon.

**********

The hissing continued in Rose's head, her slightly chapped lips passing through the motions of speaking without actually speaking.  She felt that the words really did mean something, and it scared her that she was saying them.  Her memory faded in and out, and she kept tracking back to the thoughts of saving the Doctor. 

Every time coherent thoughts would return, she would remember that she was the one in danger.  She was the one that couldn't move any muscle at will, obviously.

Unless they'd gotten to the Doctor too.  She felt her stomach lurch at the thought, and panic washed through her.  An alarm started going off above her head, and she felt her brain get fuzzy as she was put out of consciousness.

**********

The Doctor pulled pieces of Rose's clothing and her perfume and her chapsticks, hoping to find something stronger to track her by.  It was al unsuccessful.  He started to panic, carding his hands through his hair and letting out long strings of curses in Gallifreyan every time the pink and yellow path at the same end.

"You can't give me anything else?" He asked the TARDIS desperately, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling.  "There's nothing more specific?"

The TARDIS sent him an apologetic hum.

"She can't die, not like this," he murmured to himself.

The TARDIS admonished him again and sent him images of Satellite 5 and the Bad Wolf.

The Doctor sighed.  "I know.  I mean, I guess you know her better than anyone, don't you?  But I'd like to think-"

The TARDIS caught him off guard with more images, of him and Rose together, dancing around the console in leather and union jacks, falling to the grating after a rough landing when leather morphed into pinstripes, and the moment she could've been stolen from him, but wasn't.

He rested his hands on the console, leaning his head forwards.  "Please don't show me Canary Warf," he pleaded, "I know how that could've ended."

The TARDIS apologized, but she was right in proving her point.  Rose was strong, and she would live, and maybe even escape, on her own.  And the TARDIS knew both of them better than they knew themselves.

"What do I do?" The Doctor whispered, not sure if he was truly asking the TARDIS or himself.  "How do I get to her?"

The only idea he could come up with was to ask the mist, but that wasn't giving him anything.  It was being less than helpful, in fact.  And maybe that was the point.  But maybe he could trick it.

 


	17. Chapter 17

The Doctor knew that there would be no use in asking anyone where there was civilization about the mist.  No one else knew anything.  And nobody would know more than him at this point.

He returned to the woods, determined to convince the mist to come out to play, to take him from the woods and possibly to where Rose was.  It was a long shot, but a lot of what the Doctor did was based on chance.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned in a circle, looking around at the trees and the ground.  "I know you're still around in the daytime," he said.  "Don't pretend I don't.  I know you're listening."

He started trekking through the woods, looking for the little flag he and Rose had put up, just in case it had blown away to somewhere convenient.  "You know, you're the one who found out I was a Time Lord, so you should know that you can use me for your purposes.  If you let Rose go, I'm willing to help."

Silence met the Doctor's words, and he sat down, sighing heavily.  He ran his hands through his hair.  "I'll do anything."  He said quietly. 

He spent the time until sunset running things through on the TARDIS, trying to find Rose with tests that he knew were futile.  This was not a way to find her, but he could do nothing until the mist would show itself.

He was afraid to move the TARDIS right to the night, because he didn't want to go too far without meaning to.  Rose often teased him about his timing issues, seeing as he was a Time Lord and all, and she was right.  And he didn't want her to be right just now. 

So he waited it out, taking the slow path, something he never wanted to do.  Especially when it came to waiting for Rose.

He had just admitted how he felt for her, they had just given in, and now this happened?  Nothing could ever go well for him, and he knew that, and now he had brought Rose into it.  That was something he had never wanted to do. 

He kept bringing her into these things, they were always his fault, always!  First the Time War, and now Rose.  He always hurt Rose, and he never meant to, but why did she stay with him?  He was the worst person to care for, and she had done it.

That was the moment the Doctor realized that no matter what, he could never leave her.

As the sun set, the mist swept in and the Doctor stood, trying to shove all the emotions down to speak objectively.

_Good evening, Time Lord_

"Good evening," the Doctor replied, keeping his voice casual.  "I trust that you heard what I had to say this afternoon?"

_I did.  But there is no reason for me to take you in Rose Tyler's place._

"And why not?" The Doctor demanded.  "What do you need her for that's so important?"

_Rose Tyler has the blood of a golden Wolf, Time Lord.  It's a rare and beautiful thing.  She is the last piece of our puzzle.  She is not human._

"What do you mean she's not human?" The Doctor snapped.  "Of course she's human."

_That's what the both of you think.  Both of you pretend that the Bad Wolf never happened, that it was never there, but it was there, and it remains, and it keeps her heart beating._

"And that's what you need?" The Doctor asked slowly, understanding.  "You need her heart?"

_I'm afraid not, Time Lord, because that heart belongs to you.  I want her mind._

"You can't have it.  She needs it."

_She is already on her way to becoming my strongest vessel.  I do not need you._

"My life span is so much stronger than hers," The Doctor protested, and the mist started to stir angrily.  "Please let me have her!  You're the one who knows I'm alone!"

_Would you rather spend a lifetime of a shell with her?_

The mist's words were heavy.  They meant that the mist would take him to Rose, if he so desired, but he would be put in that same position.  Was it worth it?  To be next to her, but a shell of his former self?

The universe would survive without him, wouldn't it?  He needed Rose, and his physiology was stronger than hers.  It was possible that he could save them, it was so possible, so deliciously likely that he could save her, or at least protect her.  Or they would go down together.  And he wouldn't have to outlive her.

He wouldn't have to be alone.

"Yes," he said.  "I'd rather be a shell with her.  Take me to her."

_Very well.  If that is truly what your heart desires._

"My heart desires a lot of things.  Isn't it about time I got one of them?"

_Oh, Time Lord, you've always had Rose Tyler.  I can use you and the Bad Wolf.  If that's the case, the others will be released._

The Doctor let out a heavy sigh of relief.  That wasn't something he had expected, but it justified his actions in going to Rose just a little bit more.  There were more people down there, which he knew because of Leslie's and the other's disappearances.  But they all seemed much less violent than Rose's.

"You'll release them to their families?"

_After I wipe their memories, yes._

The Doctor heaved another sigh. 

_Here is your Bad Wolf._

Rose appeared in front of him then, beaming at him.  She held out her hand.  "Let's go," she said, the mist turning and whipping her hair around as though she were standing on a beach.

"Rose," he reached his hand out for her and took a step towards her. She took his hand, but she was unnaturally cold.  She drew him into her and pressed her lips to his.

Her lips were cold too, and her mouth disappeared under his, along with the rest of her body.  He fell into a cold abyss, his only thought to be chasing after Rose.

 

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

The first thing the Doctor noticed was that his time sense wasn't working.  He wondered if he was falling down the same hole they had been earlier.  Although it didn't make that much sense, a lot of things these days weren't making sense, so it wasn't for lack of anything.

He could've fallen for hours or a few minutes, he wasn't sure which.  But when he fell in that same pile of moss that he had landed in with Rose earlier, he made a grunt of annoyance.  He glanced up and noticed the hole had been filled in. 

That didn't explain why his time sense wasn't working all of a sudden.  The last time they had been down here, Rose had been the only one affected.  He furrowed his brows and licked a portion of the sentient dirt.

He analyzed it in his brain for a moment, letting it process before spitting it out.  It was stronger than it had been before, upped in strength enough to stop even his superior Time Sense.

He was lucky Rose wasn't with him this time.  The aura the soil was giving off was too strong for her brain.  A blood vessel in her brain would've burst with being in the field of it.

The Doctor turned to face the hallway that Rose had wanted to explore before.  He jammed his hands into his pockets and heaved a sigh before heading down it. 

It was impossibly long, like he and Rose had assumed before, and again his time sense was limited.  Upon further licking, he discovered that it was, in fact, very deliberate, sentient metal, used to block anyone's time sense. 

He furrowed his brows.  He didn't think he knew of a species besides the Time Lords themselves that could block time sense, but of course, that made even less sense then him falling through that same hole.  He pushed that thought aside along with the loneliness of being alone in his own head.

Daleks?  Maybe.  The possibility of that was growing by the moment, evidenced by the minimal 'decorating' of the hall, and how it was so straight.  If it was Daleks, they really would need Rose.  She was the one that destroyed their emperor, and they all knew it.  By now, every Dalek left had heard the stories of the Big Bad Wolf from planet Earth.

At the thought of Rose being at the mercy of Daleks _again,_ he picked up at a run, heading for a pinprick of light at the end of the mile-long hall.

He reached a door with a window situated in it in record time, rather impressed with himself and panting heavily.  He tried to pull and push the door, but it wouldn't open either way. 

_Welcome, Time Lord.  Enter._

"You've got to let me in there, first," the Doctor said testily.

_Right you are.  Step back._

The Doctor shuffled back a step, allowing plenty of room between himself and the door.

_Another._

The Doctor huffed, but obediently took another step back.  He had asked for this, after all.

_I am not to touch the subjects, and as I promised, they will be released, but you must release them.  Enter._

The door flung open and grew to the size of the whole wall, making the whole thing disappear entirely.  The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye, leaving the Doctor in stunned silence for a moment. 

He took a step into the giant room, the rows of imprisoned humans facing each other, mouthing unseen words, words that the Doctor knew had to be ripping through their heads twenty four-seven.

He looked at the wires travelling into their skin and winced, but then he remembered that he had asked for this.  He had wanted this, after all.  He removed his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and took a few more steps forward.

The sound of his trainers hitting the floor echoed through the whole room, but no one was aware of him.  Or if they were, they couldn't move.

 The Doctor moved to the person closest to him and examined all the wires.  He knew there was probably one main wire that would disable all the others, allowing for a lot of time saving when it came to rescuing these people.  He looked at the woman who was first up on his list, wires looping in and out of her arms, legs, and one protruding from the back of her neck. 

That one had to be it, connected to a main artery, leading right to the brain stem to allow this amount of control over a human being.  He adjusted the sonic to a very gentle setting and held it close to the wire before pressing the activation button.

As if on a trigger, all the wires shot back from the woman and she gasped, falling forward.  The Doctor caught her and helped her steady herself. 

"Who are you?" The woman croaked, her voice hoarse. "Where am I?  What is this?"

"Hush," the Doctor admonished gently.  He pointed down the hall from which he had come.  "Just go there, others will be joining you in a bit, alright?  How do you feel?"

"A little dizzy," the woman said, still clutching to the Doctor's arm.  He helped her right herself and she walked unsteadily to the hallway, but she made it.

It was slow work, but the Doctor got it done, feeling more and more sick with anger as he saw how many people had been captured in this way.  All were confused and disoriented, and unsteady on their feet, but they seemed to understand that this was a rescue mission and so headed straight for the hall.

It was during one of those moments that the Doctor realized he couldn't let that happen to himself and Rose.  What would Jackie say?  She'd be furious, that was for sure. 

Besides, this was not the life he had promised for Rose.  He just wanted to show her the stars.  And he had ended up with a best mate and almost-lover out of the deal.

No.  He couldn't let her go.

When he finally made it to Rose, he reached a hand up to touch her cheek, infuriated with her blank expression and quick moving lips, hissing words he could just barely hear.

Whoever was running this whole operation had taken the prisoners back to the forest, he saw them vanish and breathed out a sigh of relief.  The mist couldn't bring them back now, it would draw too much attention to itself, and that was one thing it was probably against at this point.

He turned to Rose, sonic in hand, but dropped it quickly as he realized the words that she was whispering.

She was whispering his name, over and over and over.

_In Gallifreyan._


	19. Chapter 19

Every single one of the Doctor's senses honed in on Rose, mouthing his name, the syllables coming out in strange hissing noises.

This was Gallifreyan, but it wasn't Old High Gallifreyan that he spoke (Or swore in, rather) in front of Rose.  This was Old Low Gallifreyan.  Many Time Lords would speak in it when not on Gallifrey, because it was less stuffy and involved.

But there was no one left that should know this language to pump it into Rose.  And that made things very simple for the Doctor.  It made him very, very angry.  And he was going to get her out of here. 

"Rose," he whispered, touching her shoulder.  "Rose, can you hear me?"

She was whispering his name so urgently that he was afraid to sonic the wire at the back of her neck.  Her eyes looked dead but her voice was urgent, her skin nearly burning to the touch. 

"Rose," he shook her shoulder.

_Ah, Doctor, your emotions have made you so weak._

The Doctor whipped around, looking for the source of the words, trying to guard Rose at the same time.  There was no one around, not even the hissing sounds of the mist.  Which only left one thing.

The words were inside of his head.

"Get out!" he shouted, "Out of my head!"

_Have you forgotten how to put your barriers up?_

"You must know that if I put them up you'll be stuck in there?" the Doctor bit back.  "Who are you, and what do you want?"

_Nothing much.  Just the Earth.  And in the grand scheme of things, that really isn't a lot at all, is it?_

The Doctor chose to ignore the voice and return to Rose.  He stepped up on the pedestal with her, which had just enough room for the toes of his trainers to touch hers.  He set his hands on her waist, nothing short of gazing at her, trying to bring her back with his touch. 

"Rose, I'm afraid to touch that wire."

_We had a deal, Doctor.  Stand on the pedestal next to the Bad Wolf._

"No," the Doctor replied.  "I don't want to play by your rules anymore.  I thought just standing next to her would make me happy, even if we were both empty.  But that's wrong.  I need her with me.  Alive.  Not in a shell."

_I'm going to be completely sick_

"Oh, enough," the Doctor spat, exasperated.  He returned his gaze to Rose, who was now whispering his name more fervently, her brows drawn together in panicked concentration.

"Coming to save you," she whispered, again in Gallifreyan.  "Coming to save you."

"Save me?" The Doctor gripped at her waist, trying to draw her back to him.  "Rose, wake up!"  He leaned forward and pressed his cheek to the side of her head, his lips just by her ear.  He closed his eyes and started to whisper words of encouragement to her, in Gallifreyan since that's what she was speaking.

They were tender words of encouragement, he dared to tell her he loved her, dared to call her his precious Rose, and to come back to him. 

"Come on, my Rose," he whispered, his native tongue flowing out of him easily, "Come back to me."

Her voice began to calm, soothed by his words, though she still whispered his name, over and over.

He breathed out a sort of sigh of relief and picked up the sonic screwdriver from where he had let it fall. 

_Put that sonic down!  You don't want to face me, Doctor!  You release the human woman, and that's exactly what you'll do!_

The Doctor flipped the screwdriver in his hands and shrugged.  "That's the thing.  I usually like to know what I'm facing, and you have piqued my curiosity.  I'd like to see you, if that's alright.  And since Rose has saved my sorry arse enough recently, so I think she deserves this." 

With that, and behind the screaming in his head, he pressed the sonic to the wire at the back of Rose's neck.  She let out a gasp, her eyes flooding with life as the wires dropped from her body and she fell into his arms.

He clutched her to him as she steadied herself, murmuring gentle words, in English this time, and pressed his lips to her temple.  Her temperature had gone back to normal.  The system she was hooked up to had been overheating her.

"Are you alright?" He asked as she pulled back, looking a little dazed.

She nodded.  "I fell into this white room," She tried to explain.  "Leslie!"  She gripped his arms and glanced around the room.

"I freed them," the Doctor said, "I made a deal to get to you.  A deal I'm not going to honor."

Rose nodded, the trust in her eyes enough to make him spontaneously combust.  He pressed a chaste kiss to her mouth and helped her down of the pedestal. 

She was a bit unsteady on her feet, but with her hand in his she was more stable.

_Stop right there!_

Rose flinched visibly and the Doctor turned to her.  "You heard that?"

She nodded.  "It's in my head."

The Doctor furrowed his brows at her.  Humans were not telepathic, and this was clearly a telepathic being, so realistically Rose should hear nothing but the distant hissing she heard before.  What an impossible woman it was that stood next to him.

_Would you rather I talked to you in person, Bad Wolf?  Would it hurt your pathetic little head a little less?_

Rose cringed.  "Yes, actually," she said sarcastically.  "If you'd come down here, that'd be great."

The Doctor glanced at her fondly.  Leave it to her to be so brave in the face of a mess like this.  Although, the telepathy probably was hurting her head quite a bit.

_Very well.  Here I come!_

There was no wind.  In fact, it was all rather anticlimactic.  A door opened, and blond man entered, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, his walk casual.

Rose cowered from him, hiding behind the Doctor's shoulder, and he turned to her with confusion.  She only shook her head.

"Hello, then," the man said as he stood before them, rocking back on his heels.  "You've refused to play by my rules, have you?"

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked harshly, "How'd you get in my head?"

"Oh, that's right, you wouldn't recognize this piece of me, eh?  You must remember me, Doctor."  The man shot a wicked grin at the Doctor and Rose.  "Your old pal?  _The Master?"_  



	20. Chapter 20

The Doctor's mind buzzed, filled with confusion and anger.  His only conscious thought was to protect Rose.  He shoved her fully behind him, his hand still locked around hers. 

"That's impossible!" The Doctor spat.  "All of them are dead!"

"He's a Time Lord?" Rose whispered, her voice trembling.  "He looks like-"

The Master sent her a wolfish grin that cut her off and set her to cowering behind the Doctor again. 

The Doctor didn't have time to ask Rose what was happening, why she was afraid.  The only thought was to protect her.  "How are you alive?"

"That's not really that important, is it?"  The Master clapped his hands.  "The important thing is that I've got two very important beings on my hands."

The Doctor clenched his jaw, looking incredibly angry.  He tried to stop his hand in Rose's from shaking, but it was impossible.

"Your little Wolf saw me for a moment before she went under," the Master said casually, rocking back on his heels.  "She almost cried when she looked at me!" He laughed, a cold dark laugh, "Your big, bad wolf is a bit of a... Scaredy cat, isn't she?  Then I put her under, to do some top secret work, and she turned telepathic and started mumbling your name.  In Gallifreyan!  Imagine that, Doctor! Your real name!  Bet you don't remember it now, do you, sweetheart?"

The Doctor felt Rose shake her head against his back.  "No," she said, her voice small, "I don't remember it."

"Why would she?" The Doctor spat, "You put those words in her mouth!"

"I didn't," The Master spread his palms in innocence, his eyes wide.  "She knew it, she was connected to my head, and she fixated on it.  Got a little pet, have you, Doctor?"

"Stop it!" The Doctor shouted.  "What do you want?  Why do you appear as mist?  Why did you torture me in the forest after you took her?"

Rose's other hand tightened on the Doctor's arm as he said the last sentence, feeling unreasonably guilty for not being with him.  How could she have done that to him, left him alone?

"Let's test a theory!" The Master said cheerily, expertly avoiding the question.  "Wolfie, my dear, are you still telepathic?'

"I don't know," Rose said, the defiance and bravery returned to her voice, making the Doctor feel a little more comfortable.  Not that he was comfortable with this situation at all.  He was a cross between wanting to scream and punch the Master square in the jaw.  He couldn't imagine what he'd wanted to do if he weren't a pacifist.

Rose winced and fell.  The Doctor turned immediately and caught her, holding her steady against him.  "Rose, are you alright?"

She looked at him, tears of pain streaming down her cheeks.  "He's in my head," she croaked out. 

The fury that lit into the Doctor was unmatched, and if Rose had ever seen the Oncoming Storm, she was seeing it now. 

"How dare you!" He shouted at the smirking Master.  "She doesn't have defenses up, she can't stop you!"

"Ah, but she is telepathic!" The Master clapped with glee.  "Very useful, that, very useful."

"She's not for you to use," the Doctor replied quickly.  He met Rose's gaze and situated his fingers on her temples.  "Let me in?" He asked quietly.

She could only nod, now unable to speak.  It was undeniable that the Master was hurting her.

The Doctor's essence was gold in this regeneration.  He suspected that was because of Bad Wolf, or maybe just because of Rose herself.  He crept into Rose's mind, trying to soothe the panic that it held.  He met the Master's green essence halfway through her mind.

  
_"Ooh, lookie at who I remind your pet of!"_ The Master echoed through Rose's and the Doctor's heads.

  
_"I didn't get permission to root about in her memories, and neither did you.  Get out."_   The Doctor replied simply.

  
_"Oh, but it's so interesting.  What a woman.  A human... You could do better, Doctor!  My oh my, is she interesting!"_ The Master sounded so excited.  Too excited.  It was getting the Doctor absolutely infuriated.  Not that he wasn't already angry, mind you, but this really set it off.

  
_"OUT."_ The Doctor pushed the Master's essence, a move that wasn't expected, ands shoved him right out of Rose's head.  He built up Rose's mental barriers and removed himself from her head.

Rose was unconscious now, the Doctor holding her in his arms.  He slid to the floor and cradled her in his lap.  "Why would you do that?"

The Master squatted, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together.  "Poor thing," he cooed. 

The Doctor shot him a glare and pillowed Rose's head against the space between his shoulder and his chest.  "You've hurt her," he snapped. "What do you want, anyways?"

"I told you.  The Earth.  Very small in comparison to all the places you've been, don't you think?"

"The Earth is incredibly important," the Doctor protested.  "You never cared about the people who live there, and how wonderful they are."

"You mean how wonderful _she_ is?" The Master rolled his eyes.  "You are hopeless."

"I feel sorry for you," The Doctor replied.  "That you can't see their potential, what they mean.  I'm disappointed you can't see them the way I do, and you never did."

"She's only special by circumstance," the Master argued.  "If you even knew-"

"I do know," the Doctor cut him off quickly.

The Master's eyebrows raised and he grinned.  "I really don't think you do, but I can't argue with you, can I?"

"You shouldn't."  The Doctor glanced up at his former friend. "Why?  Why do you need the Earth?"

"I need to repopulate it, with Time Lords," the Master said simply.

"Are you kidding?" The Doctor arched an eyebrow.  "Physically impossible and just generally disgusting, if you ask me."

The Master wrinkled his nose.  "No," he replied.  "I was testing humans, going around, checking people out for high compatibility rates.  Needed a mate, me, so I brought all of those people together, trying to find someone with a higher compatibility rate, or to combine two people to make the ultimate 'companion'" The Master said slowly with air quotes.  "But I was not prepared for this woman.  She's exceptionally compatible."

The Doctor furrowed his brows.  "How is that possible?"

The Master grinned manically and sat in front of the Doctor and an unconscious Rose.  "The same way she's telepathic now, that's how."  He grabbed the Doctor's wrist and set his palm over the left side of her chest.

The Doctor looked at the Master, confused by the show of her steady heartbeat.  "Yeah, she's always had that," he said sarcastically, "Marvel she is."

"No, that's not the amazing part."  The Master moved the Doctor's hand to the other side of Rose's chest.  Where another heart was beating.

The Doctor's eyes widened as he stared down into her face.  "She's a Time Lady," he whispered, somehow in awe and very, very afraid at the same time.

The Master laughed.  "Yes!  And the two of you, my dear friend, are going to start by repopulating the Earth." He stood, "That is, after I annihilate the human race."


	21. Chapter 21

The Doctor couldn't move, was frozen with Rose in his arms, an array of confusing and contradicting thoughts pounding through his head.  After a moment, he snapped to attention and bored his gaze into the Master.  "You think you can just make us _breed?_ We're people!"

"You're Time Lords!" The Master replied gleefully.  "I thought they were all dead too, but I knew that you were alive.  Imagine my complete shock when I hear your little minx in my head."

"How could you hear her in your head?" The Doctor asked.  "She can't control it, she doesn't know."

"No, she can't," the Master agreed.  "But she's a consciousness, a whisper."

"Then why can't I hear her?" The Doctor asked quietly, returning his gaze to Rose.

"Because, you git, she's got no brain activity right now.  The two of us mucking about in her brain did too much for her.  But before... She didn't need to, you were there.  She was reaching for you, when she was here," he wrinkled his nose.  "Makes me sick, actually."

The Doctor rolled his eyes.  "We won't breed for you," he said simply.

"Mm, I think you'll do just what I'd like soon enough," the Master replied, "Don't worry, I won't watch!"  He laughed, and the Doctor glared at him.

"What about the people you released?" The Doctor asked, trying to keep him away from the thought of breeding.  As much as he loved Rose, wanted Rose, he couldn't justify it happening that way.  She deserved so much more than that.

"Plopped them back with their families," the Master crossed his arms and very nearly pouted.  "Can't even bring them back now, if I wanted to.  Was counting on you, my friend."

"Don't call me that," the Doctor snapped.  "I was your friend, but not anymore."

"Fine," The Master shrugged.  "Goodnight, Doctor."

"What?"

"Goodnight!"

The Doctor heard the Master laughing gleefully right before he felt a prick in his neck and he passed out.

************

Rose woke up with the most killer headache that was worse than any hangover she had ever had.  She groaned and lifted her hand to her forehead.  She pressed her opposite hand down into where she was lying and discovered she was on a bed.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw nothing but a generic bedroom ceiling.  She furrowed her brows.  The last thought she had had was... Well...  She couldn't really remember.

The Doctor leaned over her, a worried expression on his face.  "You're awake," he whispered.

"Yeah," she reached up and touched his face.  "What happened?  Why do you look so upset?"

He averted his gaze.  "You were unconscious for two days, Rose."

She closed her eyes, the memories of the Master and him and the Doctor prodding around in her head before she blacked out swimming before her. 

"Oh, yeah."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered, "He was hurting you, I had to get him about of your head."

"I thought you said I wasn't supposed to be telepathic."  Rose responded.

The Doctor fell back onto the bed next to her, blowing out a long sigh.  "Rose, who does he remind you of?  Why do you cower from him?"

Rose closed her eyes, not even that coherent enough to notice that he hadn't responded to her actual statement about telepathy.  She shifted on the bed to cuddle against him.  The Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulder, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. 

"He looks like Jimmy Stone," she nearly whispered.

The Doctor's hand faltered for a moment.  "Your ex?"  He tried to clarify.

"Yeah.  It's not like the resemblance is uncanny, but... It's close enough.  He's your friend?"

"No," the Doctor replied quickly.  "Not anymore.  I'm sorry, Rose, I didn't know, you told me about Jimmy, but you never said..."

"What he looked like?" Rose closed her eyes, "No, I'd quite like to forget that myself.  You didn't answer me," she paused and waited for the Doctor to grunt a 'go on' at her.

"You said I'm not supposed to be telepathic.  How were you and the Master able to get in my head?  How did I know your name?"  Her voice started to sound panicked and he shushed her quietly, trying to calm her.

"Rose, does your head hurt?"

"Don't change the subject."

"I'm not, this is relevant."  The Doctor blew out another long breath.  "When I was young, I went through that same thing.  Got the nastiest headache afterwards, I did."

"After what, Doctor?"

"My telepathy training."

"But I'm not telepathic," Rose protested.

"But you are."  I don't know what happened, Rose, but... Look at me, will you?"

Rose sat up with him to look him in the eye, anxiety clouding her features.  "What's happened?  Doctor, am I going to die?"

The Doctor laughed lightly.  "No, quite the opposite, actually."  He reached his hand up to stroke her face.  He took her hand in his and pressed her fingers against the left side of her chest.

"Yeah, strong and good," Rose sent him an odd look.  "Thanks for that, Doctor."

The Doctor sent her a tender smile and moved her fingers to the other side of her chest.  Her eyes widened as she felt the second heart under her fingertips.

She took her free hand and placed it on the left side of his chest, and then the right.  "I'm..."

"You're a Time Lady," the Doctor removed his hand from hers and cupped her face with both hands.  "I want to run some tests on you when we get back to the TARDIS.  But, Rose, don't you see what this means?"

A smile slowly crept across her face and she leaned forward to wrap her arms around his neck.  She clutched him to her, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

"Forever," he murmured against her hair, and she nodded. 

"Forever," she repeated.  "Doctor, my head kills."

"Yeah, that'll happen," he admitted, helping her to lay down on the bed.  "You'll feel better after a real rest."

He laid down next her and let her lay her head on his chest.  "Oh, and Rose?"

"Hm?"

"We're sort of imprisoned."

She sighed, closing her eyes.  "Yeah.  I sort of figured that out.  Can we wait to escape?  Just a couple of hours?"

"Yes, we can do that," the Doctor replied, keeping a steady eye on the locked and barred door.

 


	22. Chapter 22

He held her while she slept.  It was going to be much like a regeneration, these first few days.  She was adjusting to a sudden new heart and probably a thousand new thoughts that seemed to come from nowhere.

Oh, she'd always been clever.  But she'd be nearly unstoppable now, like him, and he found that he quite liked that idea.  He was also quite fond of the fact that their forever would be much, much longer than originally intended.

A voice came on a monitor, clear and concise.  The voice of the Master cutting through the blissful silence, aside from Rose's gentle breaths.

"Are you two going to get up to anything?" The Master asked impatiently.  "I've got a new race to create, here!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes.  "You of all people would understand that she needs rest," he said quietly, so as to not disturb Rose. 

"I'm on this monitor so I won't disturb her.  You're welcome."

The Doctor huffed to himself. "Besides, who said we would 'get up to anything'?"

"Don't tell me you don't already," the Master said mockingly.  There was a pause as neither man spoke.  "Oh, my God!" The Master cackled.  "You don't! Oh, that is too sad, far too sad.  Guess today's your lucky day!"

"What will you do if we refuse?" The Doctor asked, not noticing Rose starting to rouse.

"Lock you in here forever, of course," the Master said nonchalantly.  "Really no other way, is there?"

"I don't want it to happen like that," the Doctor snapped.

"Me either," Rose murmured against his chest.

The Doctor sent a regretful glance down at her.  "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"I'll leave you to it!" The Master said cheerily.  "Don't worry, I'll stop watching before things get interesting."

The Doctor rolled his eyes in response.  "Thanks for that."

The monitor clicked off.  Rose sat up and scrubbed her hands down her cheeks.  "I don't know why I'm so tired," she said apologetically. 

"I did the same thing when I regenerated," the Doctor said, sitting up and wrapping an arm loosely around her waist.  "I was adjusting to the new body and the filtering of the inside of the TARDIS, you're adjusting to a new heart and a bunch of new information.  What do you see in your head?"

Rose closed her eyes, focusing.  What she saw was unlike anything else.  Gold paths crossed and weaved through her mind, turning and twisting together, than spreading apart.  "I see these gold things," Rose said lamely, her voice full of awe.

The Doctor beamed at her.  "You're seeing timelines, Rose.  Don't try to look to close just yet, though."

"Okay," Rose agreed, opening her eyes and turning to face him.  She gave him a small smile and then looked at her hands, which were resting in her lap.  "I'm sorry."

The Doctor furrowed his brows and scooted closer to her, throwing one of his legs over hers.  "For what?"

She rested her hands on his calf, fiddling with the edge of the pinstriped trousers.  "For not holding on, for getting pulled down here."

"You think that's your fault?  Rose," he rested two fingers on her cheek and pulled so that she was forced to look at him.  "Whatever that mist is, whatever the Master made it out of, it attacked you.  It was stronger than you, stronger than me.  Besides, to solve any of our mysteries, we've got to get all up close and personal, haven't we?"

Rose smiled at him, and shifted so she could hold him.  The Doctor wrapped his arms around her back.

"I'm usually the one comforting you," she said, the humor in her voice muffled by the fabric of his jacket.

"Can't have them all," the Doctor replied, "About time I paid you back, though."

She giggled and burrowed closer to him.  "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"Well, Time Lady Rose Tyler, let's see!" He sprung off of the bed and then threw her a disarming smile.  "I really, really do like the sound of that.  My new four favorite words, all in one charming title.  Don't you like it?"

Rose beamed and slid off of the bed.  "Love it."

"Good!  So, we've got a door," the Doctor fished around in his pockets.  "And they have taken my sonic.  Rose, I need my sonic.  We can't-" He reached to jar the door, but just as his hand reached the doorknob it was sucked in to the metal of the door, leaving nothing but air between the Doctor's fingers.

"No windows," Rose said ruefully.  She walked into the en suite bathroom they had been given, but there was no luck in there either.  She heaved a sigh.  "Are we even still in Scotland?"

The Doctor froze.  That was not something he had even remotely considered.  Not in Scotland?  Very possible, especially when the Master was involved and especially since he had set all those people free.  And of course, he wasn't going to destroy the Earth while he was _on_ Earth, and he wouldn't destroy them because he needed them.

The Doctor leaned forward, knocking his forehead against the door.  He groaned, "Rose, he's literally trying to breed us, like we're animals, in a... A zoo!" He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.

"Doctor?" Rose's voice sounded slightly afraid.

The Doctor righted himself and faced the en suite, where she had headed again.  He furrowed his brows in confusion and went after her.  "Rose?" He asked, his foot about to cross over the threshold from the bedroom to the bathroom.

"Don't come in!" Rose said, holding a hand up.  "There's something in the air.  I feel really funny."

The Doctor arched a brow.  "What sort of funny?"  He asked.

Rose pointed at the wall as her cheeks colored pink.  "I sort of want to shove you up against that wall and snog the pants off of you."

The Doctor's jaw went slack, but he quickly sorted himself and cleared his throat.  "Well, there could be a couple reasons for that, really, and I-"

"No, I'm not talking normal urges," Rose balled her hands into fists.  "I feel like I'll die if I don't."

The Doctor groaned.  "Aphoristic."

 

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

Rose clenched her jaw and stared at him.  "Do you want to tell me why the Master is filtering aphoristic oxygen into our _bathroom?"_ She asked through clenched teeth.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck.  "Probably because of what I told you earlier.  He wants to take the Earth, and fill it with Time Lords, so he wants us to... Procreate."

"Shag," Rose said bluntly, her face stoic.  "He wants us to shag."

The Doctor winced at her choice in phrasing, but nodded.  "Yeah, sort of."

"Not like this," Rose said simply, mimicking both their expressions from a few minutes ago.  She shook her head vehemently.  "It happens on our terms or not at all."

The Doctor gazed at her, warmth and pride passing through him at her words.  Oh, they both wanted to be close, and he found himself very much in favor of kissing her right now.  Was it possible to make her metabolize aphoristic by kissing it out of her.

The only thing Rose could think about was taking steps right out of that bathroom, plunging her hands into his hair, and crushing his mouth to hers.  It was quite literally the only thought passing through her now as she stood there.

The Doctor's thoughts weren't accessible to Rose, so instead she just fixated on how the tip of his tongue touched his top teeth as he regarded her carefully, clearly thinking very hard.

Oh, that was it.  That was actually the last straw.  Restraint?  Not anymore, thank you.

She was in front of the Doctor so fast that he didn't see it coming.  Without even another word passing between them they were kissing, Rose frantic underneath the Doctor's very responsive mouth.

His hands splayed across her back as he tugged her closer to him, craving her, less than she was, of course, but still.  He pulled away, panting.  "Wait. Rose, our terms." He gripped her upper arms, trying to watch her, her eyes glazed over.

"Right," she said, nodding slowly.  "Our terms."

She wasn't understanding, not comprehending.  The Doctor reluctantly held her at arm's length, struggling with that in itself, with the scent of her so close to him.

"Alright, Master," The Doctor addressed the ceiling condescendingly.  "I've had enough.  You've fiddled with her brain too much."

"I said I wouldn't watch," The Master said impatiently.  "What more do you want?"

"Our terms!" Shouted the Doctor, trying not to look at Rose, because if he didn't, he was a goner.

"Our terms," Rose replied before lunging at him again.

He turned her assault into a quick peck on the lips before pulling her to him in a hug, patting her back.

She whimpered at him, actually whimpered, for wanting to kiss him so badly.  She clutched at his jacket and roamed her lips over his jaw and neck to compensate.

"Well, you might not have a choice," the Master said, "The aphoristic is working brilliantly on her, since her mind is still weak.  And how much of her will you really refuse?  Have fun!" The Master cackled and the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Who are you even working with?" The Doctor asked in a rushed voice.

"Don't worry, Doctor.  This time, it's just me.  There's nobody else to want more Time Lords.  Ever think of that?"

"Are you ever going to tell us about the mist?" The Doctor asked.  He bit back a groan as Rose ran her tongue over his Adam's apple.

"Once I find out that your Lady is pregnant, you'll have all you want to know about the mist," the Master said encouragingly.

"You heard the man," Rose said, her voice seductive and also muffled by the skin of the Doctor's neck.  His eyes rolled back and he shoved her off of him. 

"Rose, please, try and think rationally.  It's not that I don't want, but-"

Rose pulled at the knot in the Doctor's tie.  "I figured you might want," she purred.  "I feel like a new woman!  Must be all that, _regeneration energy."_  


Those words were not supposed to sound sexy.  They were not.  No.  Regeneration was not sexy.  Unless the word 'regeneration' was coming out of Rose Tyler's mouth.

He was so distracted by that thought that she had whipped his tie off and slung it over her shoulder.  "I like this tie," she said approvingly.  "Every time you put it on I just want to-"

She cut herself off with her mouth over his, and he couldn't bring himself to refuse her, even though his mind was battling inwardly and he needed to push her away.

"Rose," he pushed her away again, gasping for air.

"You know, Doctor, that suit is very becoming on you," she leaned towards his ear and let her lips ghost his outer ear lightly.  "Then again, I would be too."

"Rose!" The Doctor exclaimed, half disgusted and half wanting to pounce her. 

She arched an eyebrow, not seeing what was wrong.  The Doctor had a lot of thoughts as to why this was wrong, but also several as to why it was so, so, so right.

"Rose, if we do this now, we'll bond mentally, telepathically, and I want you in your right mind for that.  Please, Rose.  Please."

She blinked, her vision clearing slightly.  "We'll be bonded?"  Her voice sounded full of awe and excitement at the notion.

"Yes," The Doctor nodded, inwardly punching the air at possibly having outsmarted the Master, just this once.  "Don't you want that to be natural?  Real?  Rose, stop letting it cloud your vision, okay?"

She closed her eyes and nodded.  "Okay," She whispered.  She brought her hands up to his cheeks and whimpered again. 

He leaned down and kissed her sweetly, keeping it less about passion and more about love, hoping to bring her down to a normal state of mind.  He trailed a hand up her waist, hoping it to be a calming motion. 

"Let's get out of here," he murmured against her mouth.

She pulled away from him, her eyes completely clear.  The Doctor prided himself for only a moment, because now Rose was talking and he didn't want ot miss any of it.

She glanced over at the door and furrowed her brows.  "Doctor.  How?"


	24. Chapter 24

The Doctor looked at the door.  A bar across it, and the doorknob now gone from the earlier attempt.  He sighed and carded a hand through his hair.  "I don't know."  He admitted.

He wasn't sure if Rose actually heard him say he didn't know because she was licking his neck again.

"Rose," he squeaked out.  "Could you please let me think?"

"Why, Doctor?" She asked before biting his earlobe.  "Are you distracted?"

"Yes, verymuchso," the Doctor rushed out.  "You were doing fine just a minute ago, what's going on?"

"I told you, her mind is weak," the Master's voice filtered in.  "I can fling the aphoristic air in at her from anywhere.  I'm trying to get it to work on you, I've got to make something stronger for you.  Did you build up your mental walls?"

"Yes," The Doctor replied as Rose licked the underside of his jaw and blew a stream of cool air on it.  He shivered.  "Yes, I have."

"Hmm, pity, that," the Master replied thoughtfully.  "I'll work on it."

The Doctor eyed the door again, and tried to approach it, but Rose's legs got tangled with him and he almost fell.  He grabbed her around the waist and held them both up.  He pushed Rose away from him gently because she was really starting to cloud every single thought he had. 

He got as close to the door as he could, tugging at the bar, testing its stability.  He pursed his lips, noting how strong it was.  It was impossible for him to pull it from any vantage point.

Rose stood on tiptoe behind him and ran her nose along the shell of his ear.  "Come to bed, Doctor."

He groaned and tried to elbow her, but she was too quick and she darted to the other side of him, nipping and kissing up the other side of his neck.  He fought the urge to roll his eyes back in his head, and instead said, "Rose.  Don't you want to get out of here?  Get back to the TARDIS?  To our bedroom on the TARDIS?"

"Our bedroom," Rose purred.  "I like the sound of that."

"Me too, but we can't get there until we get out of here."  The Doctor said simply.  He paused and ran his finger along the outside of the sunken in doorknob.  There was a slight indent around it.  If he had his sonic, he would've been able to bring the doorknob out, and maybe resonate the bar across the door.  He paused and turned around so fast he knocked Rose off balance.

She squeaked in surprise and fell back a bit.  The Doctor sighed and scooped her up before throwing her on the bed.  "Stay," he said.  The word was not supposed to stay out gravelly or husky but somehow it managed to be both.  He blew out his cheeks at the sound. 

He opened the bedside drawer and shuffling around in it, looking for something he might be able to use to make another sonic.  The bedside cabinet itself was made out of metal, a good casing material.

Inside the drawer was a boxcutter next to a box of plastic cased chocolates.  Next to that was a collection of Time Lord writings, books and things.  The Doctor chucked to himself because the Master was just as stupid as ever.  The man was incredibly book smart, could recite pi to all the digits, but had no sense of anything else.  He knew the math to take over the world, but no other part of it.  If the Doctor knew nothing besides the math and science of things, the Master would have the Earth by tonight.

The Doctor knocked on the metal of the cabinet, noting it as thin, but not thin enough to slice through easily with the box cutter.  Although the chocolates were a cheeky jab at the actions he and Rose were supposed to partake in, them not being able to be opened without the boxcutter was a little blessing.

However, it might take him all night, and the Master might be watching.  So he'd need Rose to block angles. 

"Rose, can you come here?"

"Thought you told me to stay, Doctor," she replied from the bed.

The Doctor closed his eyes and breathed deeply, willing himself to not be affected.  "Right, and now I'm telling ou to come here and stand beside me.  Watch this."

Rose sighed sadly, "Yeah, okay," and he heard the rustling of bedclothes as she slid off and next to him, her arms wrapping around him.

This was also blessedly convenient.  she was covering anything he might be doing, but she was also nibbling at his neck again, which was decidedly lovely but not convenient.

He slid the boxcutter into the metal of the bedside counter, cutting from the side so it would be less obvious.  It wouldn't be a smooth cut, it would take a lot of jiggling and sliding and blowing Rose's hair out of his face, but it was very doable.

"What are you up to?" She asked lowly, a hint of genuine interest in her voice.  He relaxed at the notion that she wasn't too far gone. 

"Making a sonic," he whispered.

"Oh!" she said excitedly, whispering as well.  "And then we'll go to bed?"

"Yes, Rose, and then we'll go to bed."

"Do you even want to?"  Rose asked, now feeling unsure.

He chanced turning to look her in the face.  "Yes, Rose, I want to very badly, and we will," he lifted a hand to her face and traced his thumb over her bottom lip.  "I love you."

She whimpered and leaned forward to kiss him.  The Doctor didn't ward her off, because he didn't want to and he sensed that she needed the reassurance after all of his warding off her advances.  He cupped the back of her head and returned her kiss deeply before delicately pulling away. 

"Love you too," Rose said near a whisper, and the Doctor smiled.  He turned back to the boxcutter and slid it farther down in the metal, wincing at the sound it made.

This would work.  Yes.  This could work.


	25. Chapter 25

Luckily the Doctor's time sense was completely back to normal, and he could tell how long he had been working on his new sonic.  Rose had looped her arms around his neck and was leaning over his shoulder to watch him.  Any lookings-on from the Master would make it appear as though Rose were still trying to seduce him.

However, she was just watching.  Looking at him tinker had unlocked a sense of curiosity that overrode the air, so the Master had probably stopped pumping it in.  She asked him low questions though, that could've been seen as sweet nothings or something.  Either way it was holding anything bad at bay. 

The Doctor was able to start molding the thin metal he had cut, taking care to not cut his hands.  The Gallifreyan writing was sentient, he knew, and so he whispered long, melodious words to it as he tucked the pieces of paper into the rolled metal. 

Rose seemed to catch on to the fact that she was supposed to be loving on him enough that it wasn't obvious what they were doing, and occasionally she would lean and bite his neck or catch him for a kiss.  From the outside it simply looked as though the Doctor was hiding from her, trying to restrain himself.

The tricky part of building the new sonic was cutting a balled piece of metal thin enough to be the top.  He thanked every deity he could think of for the papers that could read through it, understand what he wanted. 

They sat in that uncomfortable position, the Doctor squatting with Rose slung over him, for about three and a half hours.  His legs started to shake at the precarious stance, and when he had finally shaved the metal sheer enough with the boxcutter, he breathed a long sigh of relief.  He nimbly molded it into a dome and covered the body of the sonic with it.  He slid it into the drawer of the nightstand and stood up, taking Rose with him.

He stretched his legs out and pulled Rose to him in a hug.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted her ear closer to his mouth.  He smiled at her intuition.

"We've got to let the sonic breathe," he murmured against her ear.  "It's got to grow.  Give it about five hours.  Fancy a nap?"

Rose nodded.  "I think we should snog first, just so he knows we're still interested."

The Doctor chuckled and pushed her away only to pull her up against him to kiss her.  She hummed contentedly and wrapped her arms around his neck and hauled him completely flush against her.  He locked his forearms behind her, getting her as close as was possible.

Eventually he pulled away and pressed a kiss to her forehead.  "Think some of that air's still going through you?"

She reached up a hand to ruffle his hair fondly.  "Probably."

He grinned at her and she immediately went to shimmy out of her jeans.

"Rose!" He hissed loudly, averting his gaze.

"Doctor, I can't sleep in my jeans," Rose replied patiently.  "You might want to get down to your shirtsleeves, yourself."

The Doctor was a little frustrated that she had a point.  He pulled off his coat and jacket before maneuvering his tie out from under his collar.  He draped them over the bedside table and looked over to see Rose already under the covers.

"Had to protect your honor," she said cheekily, winking at him.

He blushed and toed his shoes off.  "Well, thanks for that," he mumbled before crawling into bed next to her.

She immediately curled into him, resting her head against his chest and wrapping her arm around his waist.  He only let himself linger on the thought that she wasn't wearing trousers for a few moments before returning her embrace and cuddling her back. 

He closed his eyes, hoping to get some natural rest.  And as he listened to the steady beat of Rose's hearts and her gentle breaths, he smiled and was able to drift off.

***

Rose awoke several hours later, and was shocked to find that she could calculate it exactly.  Each moment with her eyes closed she could catalog, figure everything. 

She sat up, almost knocking the Doctor's chin.  She looked down at his sweet sleeping face and smiled a little to herself.  She leaned down and brushed her lips across his, and as she felt him start to wake up, she pressed her mouth down harder over  his. 

He wrapped his arm around her waist and stroked up her back, a loving caress.  He pulled away from her to gaze up into her face.  He moved his hand from her back to cup her face.  "That's a good way to wake up," he said breezily, his voice rough with sleep.

She smiled and ducked down to capture his lips briefly again.  "We've slept for four hours and fifty eight minutes," she said, sounding quite pleased with herself.

The Doctor's face slowly lit up until his smile completely reached his eyes.  He shot up and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.  "You've got your time sense!" He said excitedly.  "That's brilliant, Rose!"

She smiled at his approval.  "Sonic," she whispered in his ear. 

He nodded and pulled back to kiss her fiercely before springing out of bed to replace the rest of his clothes.  "Right then!" He said excitedly.  "Get your trousers on, Rose Tyler!"

She giggled and climbed out of bed herself before pulling on her jeans and shoes.  Turning to him, she saw him tie his tie at lightening speed and throw his jacket and coat on.  He held his hand out for Rose and she rounded the side of the bed to take his hand.

The Doctor opened the bedside drawer and snagged the sonic.  He ran his thumb over part of the metal and heard it buzz a familiar sound. 

Without saying anything, he pulled Rose towards the door. "Coming to see you, old friend!" He shouted at the ceiling.  He buzzed the sonic over the doorknob and the bar across the door.  The bar popped off and the doorknob pushed out from its cave, and the Doctor flung the door open before throwing a manic grin Rose's way.  "Run!"


	26. Chapter 26

Rose had no idea where the Doctor was pulling her to.  All she knew was that she was being pulled down long, sterile, boring corridor after long, sterile, boring corridor.  She was turned around within three steps, but she could feel a prodding at the back of her mind.  "Is that you?"  She asked the Doctor.

"Is what me?" The Doctor asked off-handedly over his shoulder.

"The bumping at the back of my head.  Is that you?"  She asked again, a bit more urgency in her voice.

The Doctor's hand clenched around hers, startling her.  "No," he said, "That's not me."

"Do you feel it?"

"No," The Doctor said again.  "He's trying to get in your head.  To mess with you.  Don't let him in."

Rose focused on mentally blocking the Master from her mind, sealing an idea in her head that no one but the Doctor was allowed in there.  It took almost all of her concentration and she just managed to keep up after the Doctor.  It was lucky that his hand was in hers, because she surely would've been stumbling and stopping if it wasn't.

Since all the hallways looked the same, Rose wasn't sure how far they'd gone, but she did know, from her newly acquired time sense, that they'd been walking for a solid five minutes.

The Doctor led her to a staircase and pulled her up four flights of stairs until they reached what appeared to be the top floor.  He pushed open the door and they walked into a rather posh looking flat that Rose would've associated with some sort of male escort.  She giggled inwardly at the thought.  That was the amount of respect she had for the Master, at this point.

The Doctor froze, looking around the room for something.  Rose looked at the couch and noticed someone was sitting on it, and it was clearly the Master. He waved without facing them.  "You two are hopeless."

"Quite the contrary, we've just escaped," the Doctor shot back immediately.

The Master snorted and stood.  "I'd think you'd want to bring the Time Lords back, Doctor.  Take your pretty little thing and just-" he shrugged.  "I could take her off your hands, and bring back the Time Lords myself."

"You will not," the Doctor bit back.  "You won't lay a hand on her."

"Then why won't you comply?" The Master asked, a manic energy lighting behind his eyes.  "It's a very simple situation."

"At the cost of every human being on Earth," Rose stepped in.  "If we're going to have... Little Time Lords."

"Time Tots," The Master and the Doctor said at once.

"Whatever, if that's gonna happen, it's gonna happen on our terms, understand?  Sure you heard that discussion when you were listening in."

"Oh, I did," the Master nodded.  He raised his voice and started mocking the Doctor.  "Oh, Rose, we'd best wait, we'd best wait, let's do this on our terms!"

"I don't see anything wrong with that," the Doctor replied stiffly.

"I need you, the both of you," the Master said.  "The drumming, in my head, it's so bad," he winced.  "I need to fill it with other Time Lords."

The Doctor gave the Master a sympathetic look, but shook his head.  "No."  He said simply.  "That wouldn't work.  It wouldn't.  It would be background noise for whatever goes on in that brain of yours.  Come to the TARDIS with us, we'll find somewhere for you to settle, but it can't be here.  It can never be here."

"Where did you even get the money to rent a place like this?" Rose cut in, waving her hand vaguely.  "Is the tenant who lived here dead?"

"No," the Master replied firmly.  "This was my own purchase.  Your Doctor isn't the only one with an unlimited credit stick, Bad Wolf."

"We won't procreate for you," The Doctor switched the subject.  He wanted this done, over, now.

"Really?  Because she seemed very interested back in the room."  The Master waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You and I both know that that would've been taking advantage of her, and that's not something even you would do," the Doctor took a step forward, still holding tightly to Rose's hand.  "Would you?"

The Master's strong gaze faltered.  "No," he said, "I wouldn't have.  But she loves you.  And she could've craved anyone with that aphoristic that I put in there.  Anyone."

The Doctor's gaze softened.  "Oh," he said quietly.  "Well, we're leaving, so-"

In a move that was too quick for Rose to even process, the Doctor had given the Master a strong shove so he toppled over his own couch, and picked up his sonic off of the kitchen counter.  Rose gaped in surprise.  She hadn't even noticed it sitting there.

"Found it!" He said, twirling it between his fingers and beaming stupidly. 

The Master let out a series of loud, frustrated groans as he pulled himself up off of the floor.  "You can't stop me, Doctor.  This is already in place, the humans are doomed."

"The humans have never been doomed," Rose shot back, finding her voice again.  "They're brilliant and stronger than you might think and they will fight you.  And even though the Doctor won't hit you I sure as hell will and since you're working alone I suggest you listen to us."

Both the Doctor and the Master stared at Rose, utterly and completely gobsmacked.  She was being incredibly brave, the Doctor knew that.  She was scared.  She was trying to adjust to a giant brain and she just wanted to go to sleep for hours and hours.  He understood that.

"Yep," the Doctor replied, popping the 'p'. "She'll definitely pack a punch.  She's a Tyler."

"You're gonna sic your woman on me?" The Master snorted.  "Is that what it's come to, Doctor?  A petty little-"

Rose took a step forward and the Master took a step back.  "Wait here," she growled, and stalked off towards the bathroom. 

The Doctor took her lead and backed the Master up against the back of his couch, holding his sonic up to his neck.

"Oh please, you're not going to hurt me.  You couldn't!" The Master rolled his eyes.  "You're weak."

"You don't know that," the Doctor replied nonchalantly.  "For all you know I could have put a stun setting in.  A kill setting.  Are you really going to risk it?" 

The Master swallowed visibly, and was about to nod or shake his head when Rose re-entered the room with a bathrobe tie in her hands.

With the Doctor still threatening the Master with the sonic, Rose pulled the Master's hands behind his back and put him in a knot so tight that he yelped with pain.  He struggled for a moment, but found rather quickly that it was useless.  The Bad Wolf was strong, and she was _finished._  


She put her hands on her hips.  "Let's go."


	27. Chapter 27

Getting the Master back downstairs was basically a lot of pulling and cursing and threatening.  The Doctor and Rose each had a hand on one of the Master's arm, making sure he wouldn't escape.

"Are we still in Scotland?" The Doctor demanded.  The Master remained silent, pulling at Rose's grip.  She remained firm, trying not to let him go.

"Are we in Scotland?" The Doctor demanded, far louder this time, and with a lot more frustration behind the words.

"We're in a hotel on the edge of the wood," the Master spat at the Doctor's shoes after he finished the words. 

"Why is there a hotel there?" Rose asked.  "Was there before?"

"Yes," the Master said, speaking to her as if she were rather stupid, "It's on the opposite edge of the wood than where you were parked."

The Doctor gave the Master a firm tug so that he stumbled a bit.  Rose was the only thing that caught him, and even by then he still fell farther than was entirely necessary before she pulled him up. 

The Doctor and Rose led the Master down all the stairs, just to punish him, and pulled him straight out a back door so no one else would see what they were doing.

"Can you get us back to the TARDIS?" Rose asked over the Master to the Doctor. 

"Yes, of course, I can get us there, I feel her in the back of my head."  The Doctor responded.  "It's not as far as you think."

Rose reached behind the Master and pulled the bathrobe tie so that it cut into his wrists, and the Master cried out in pain.

"Tell your slag to get off of me!" The Master shouted. 

"Watch your step," the Doctor said firmly, and he was not speaking about the placement of the Master's feet.

The trek wasn't as long as Rose had anticipated.  It was thirty minutes at the most (time sense in working order) until they saw the blue box, and she almost sobbed with relief.

"Grab your key, Rose, I'll hang on to him," the Doctor said, and even though it was a demand, it was a tender one, and Rose was loath to refuse him.

She pulled out her key from the chain along her neck and slid it into the keyhole.  She pushed the door open and slung the key back into her shirt before entering.  The Doctor followed, pushing the Master in front of them so that he was bookended between the two.

The Master continued to grumble, cursing them out in every language he knew, including Gallifreyan Rose still couldn't understand.  She assumed that it was something that actually had to be learned, and she surprised herself in wanting to learn it.  All of it.

The TARDIS had been very generous and had given them a chair to tie the Master in, complete with proper rope.  Rose and the Doctor set about this together without even looking at each other, their motions in sync. 

Once they ensured that the Master wasn't going anywhere, the Doctor pulled Rose to the other side of the console so he could speak to her in private.

"We've got to take him somewhere," the Doctor said.  "He can't stay here."

"Figured that much, Doctor," Rose said simply.  "But where are we gonna take him?  And how did he even get here?"

"Good question," the Doctor replied, nodding.  He turned over his shoulder.  "How did you get here?"

The Master gave a shrug that the Doctor could tell was genuine.  "I don't know," he said, furrowing his brow.  "I woke up here after the War.  I've been tracking people for years, trying to find the compatibility rate, and it never works out.  Never.  But I just woke up.  That was all."

Rose furrowed her own brow and leaned up against a coral strut.  "That's weird.  After the War?" She glanced at the Doctor, not noticing a change in expression. 

"Yes, after the War," The Master rolled his eyes at her.  "Big explosion, Master pass out, wake up on Earth," he said, exaggerating every word.

Rose clenched her jaw and the Doctor took a step forward.  "Enough.  You're in my TARDIS and you will not speak to Rose that way, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," The Master said sarcastically. "Where are you gonna take me, then?" 

"Haven't decided.  We're going into the Vortex first," he said firmly, starting to flip levers and press buttons.  He yelled directions at Rose and she found that it was actually rather easy for her to follow them, and do the right thing. 

Soon enough the TARDIS shuddered and they passed through the atmosphere into the vortex.  Rose breathed out a sigh of relief.  "My mum's gonna be furious," she said quietly.

The Doctor's face drained white.  "Oh, no," he said quietly.  "She's going to hate me."

Rose giggled.  "Let's take care of this first, okay?"

The Doctor threw her a wink and pressed a kiss to her temple before throwing a final lever.  "I know exactly where to take you," he said, addressing the Master now.

"Now that you've finished being sickening, would you like to tell me where?" He asked, faking an attentive stare.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said, tilting his chin.  Remember Nikara?"

It was the Master's turn to go white.  "Nikara?"

"Where's Nikara?" Rose asked quietly, feeling very stupid in the presence of the Master.

The Doctor sent her a fond, understanding look before sliding an arm around her waist.  "Nikara is a planet in the Oculi system.  Pretty much barren, shallow seas, flat all the way to the end of the word.  And it's cold.  Species are friendly enough, but they're not humanoid.  It would be a very lonely life there."

"Do I really deserve that?" The Master asked, near shouting.  "Do I really deserve to be stranded on that God-forsaken place?"

The Doctor reached over Rose with his free hand and smacked a lever down.  "Yes. You do."

He held on to Rose for most of the trip as the Master shouted and complained, pulling at his bindings and the chair.  It occurred to Rose that he was definitely showing an air of protection over her, watching the Master steadily as held her.  When they landed, though her knees buckled, the Doctor held her upright. 

"Right then."  The Doctor pulled the Master up out of his bindings and to the TARDIS door.  "Time to go," he said cheerily.

"No!" The Master screeched, fighting the Doctor every step of the way.  Rose jumped to help, and the two of them managed to shove him out the door as he shouted and ranted at them.

"You'll see me again," he snarled.  "You will, I swear it!  This isn't the end of this, Doctor."

"Didn't imagine it was," the Doctor said with a sad look on his face,  "No second chances."

He shut and locked the TARDIS doors and turned to Rose.  He met her eyes for a moment and then his head hung, and Rose realized he had just begun to cry.

Rose reached up and touched his cheeks.  "Hey," She whispered, and moved to wrap her arms around his neck.  He followed her motion and hugged her waist, tucking his face into the crook of her neck.  They stood like that for a very, very long time.

 


	28. Chapter 28

Rose held the Doctor as he held back what seemed to be tears.  She wrapped her arms up and around his neck and leaned her cheek on his shoulder.  "It's okay, Doctor, it's just us now."

He choked on a sob and fell completely into her, finally allowing himself tears.  He held her so tightly around the waist she thought she might burst, but she wasn't about to deny him something so simple and something that he desperately needed.  His tears soaked the collar of her shirt and she held back tears of her own as she thought about all that he had just lost. 

"You're not alone, Doctor," she whispered, stroking her hand affectionately up and down his upper back.  "It's us.  It's us, it's alright."

He calmed slowly, but didn't release her, and so she continued to hold onto him.  He heaved a heavy sigh.  "He used to be my best friend," he said quietly.  "We grew up together."

Rose knew this wasn't the sort of thing that she should interrupt, so she nodded against his shoulder, letting him know she was listening.

"We were like you and Shireen, Rose.  But everything wrecked when we became full Time Lords.  He was doing such things, turning... Evil, there's no other word for it.  Swore he heard drums in his head.  He's mad."

"He's mad," Rose admitted.  "But he was still your friend."

The Doctor pulled back and gazed into Rose's face, his eyes full of wonder.  "I don't know how you manage to understand everything I say to you," he said admiringly, smiling softly. 

Rose tapped one of her fingers to her temple.  "Big brain in here, just like yours, now."

"That's right," the Doctor said, almost reverently.  "That's right!" His smile turned into a full beam and he pulled her in to kiss her soundly.  Rose giggled at his assault and he pulled back suddenly, causing her to fall into him.

"I think..." the Doctor raised his fingers to her temples and then suddenly dropped them.  "Rose, I never asked you properly."

Rose furrowed her brows.  "Asked me what, Doctor?"

The Doctor heaved a bit of a sigh, all of a sudden looking incredibly sheepish.  "Rose, will you be my life mate?  And bond with me?"

Rose's face lit up so much that the Doctor thought she'd spontaneously combust.  She threw her arms around his neck again and squeezed him to her. "Yes," she said breathlessly.  "Yes, always, yours.  Forever."

The Doctor shuddered pleasantly at the word, because this time she could really mean it.  They could really have forever.  He let his eyes fall closed and listened to her excited double heartbeat against the skin of his own chest through his many layers.

"Right, then!" The Doctor said cheerfully, scooping Rose up and throwing her over his shoulder in a firemen's carry.  Rose giggled and scrambled for purchase on his back, ending up fisting the back of his coat.

"Shall we be off?" She asked sarcastically. 

"Sure, if you'd like," the Doctor replied, starting off and carrying her down the hallway to his room.

***

The idea of bonding mentally was something Rose had never really considered as a possibility, since she had been human.  But during an act that was indeed _very human,_ the Doctor's hands reached to brush Rose's temples, and she closed her eyes, letting him all the way in.

He'd told her to lower her mental barriers, do her best to make herself vulnerable, and he would do the same.  They would have no more secrets. 

The first thing she saw was the gold of his essence as she had seen it before, but it was less aggressive, now that it wasn't trying to push the Master out of her mind.  She heard his light gasp as she tried to follow him back into his mind. 

She saw his memories, the Time War, a young Master, a teenager, with the Doctor, laughing and talking.  The Doctor 'borrowing the TARDIS' and she flashed through all his adventures, through all his companions.  A girl named Susan, a young Sarah Jane, Ace, Jo, and they all led up to her. 

She noticed that in his mind, she was a bright, shining thing, every memory of her smile lighting up his entire mind.  She nearly stopped crying when she saw that his world was so dark between the War and his meeting her.

She saw him hold back, try to stop himself from loving her, but with every brush of the hands or 'completely innocent' hug she felt his self control slip, and slip, and slip.  Until he fell completely, and was born out of love into this incarnation.  She almost cried again. He was literally made for her.

The Doctor saw things completely differently.  A much shorter life, but none the less exciting or important.  He saw from her first memories as a toddler.  She was so young and fresh.  As he watched her grow up in his mind's eye, he fell more and more in love with her. 

A fourteen year old Rose, fancying a young and cocky Jimmy Stone, a sixteen year old Rose moving in with him, getting her heart broken, and wandering the street before finally chucking up the courage to go and move back in with her mother.

A seventeen year old Rose, falling into Mickey's arms, the jealousy closing in on the Doctor and making him clutch at the physical Rose even tighter. 

An eighteen year old Rose, getting her first job at Henrik's, Jimmy Stone nearly forgotten, safe and tucked into her mother's flat.  A happy Rose, but not a content Rose.

And then he saw how she saw him.  Manic grin and big ears making her heart flutter and her stomach turn.  She saw him as a real treasure.  Oh, she was so mistaken.

He felt her fall in love with him, a rush of human emotions. He felt her try to hold back because he was holding back, saw her wring her hands as she stood behind him, only wanting to love him forever.  And now she could.  She really could.

They lay together under the sheets the whole evening, holding each other tightly, as if they were afraid the other would let go.

The Doctor was sure that Rose had fallen asleep, her nose pressed into his chest, still seeping regeneration energy.  That was, until she sighed deeply and trailed her fingers across his back. 

"You know, we've gotta go see my mum tomorrow," she mumbled.

The Doctor groaned and rolled his eyes, but smiled down at the image of her head pillowed on his chest.  "Time is relative." 

And that was very typical Doctor talk for 'we're not moving.'  And Rose Tyler, was not one to say no. 


	29. Chapter 29

The Doctor and Rose procrastinated going to Jackie's in a very creative fashion, but at some point the woman was going to have to be let in on the fact that her daughter was one of the last two Time Lords.

The thought made Rose grin.  He wasn't alone anymore.  And no matter what she thought, that was what she had wanted all along.  Him to be safe, loved, cared for.  She just never imagined that it could actually be her.

They showered in painfully separate bathrooms and dressed and met in the console room.  Rose found she liked this new dynamic, and since she was now a Time Lady, the Doctor taught her more on flying the TARDIS.  He said it was something she would need to learn, and she gladly accepted this part of him.

He rattled on and on about switches and levers and "The mallet's mine, Rose, but I can get you one if you really want one".  That went on for about an hour until Rose was able to fully assist the Doctor into materializing at the Powell Estate.

They almost tumbled to the floor but seemed to keep their balance.  The Doctor looked over at Rose, a huge, stupid grin on his face.  He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up as they laughed together.

"I'd thought I'd seen the last of those days," he admitted into her hair.  "Flying with somebody else."

"They're just starting, Doctor," Rose replied, and the Doctor gave her another squeeze before setting her down. 

He reached down to take her hand before the two of them went to exit the TARDIS.  Rose knew he was still upset about the whole ordeal with the Master, and she knew she wanted to talk about it with him later if he was willing, but for now all was well, and they'd won.  She mused at how good a team they made. 

"You!" A very angry Jackie Tyler approached Rose and the Doctor straight out of the TARDIS and to Rose's surprise, gave him a mighty smack across the face.

"Oi!" The Doctor reached up his free hand to touch his cheek.  "What was that for?"

"That was for being gone for a week and a half!" Jackie put her hands on her hips.  "You swan off to Scotland and don't even bother coming back once they announce that the mist is mysteriously, all of a sudden gone.  I knew it was you, but you didn't come back!"

The Doctor felt Rose prodding in the back of his mind and opened it up to her.

_You want to tell her or shall I?_

  
The Doctor inwardly snorted. _Might as well be me.  She's already slapped me._  


The Doctor cleared his throat and rocked back on his heels.  "Well, Jackie, I-"

"I just want to know where in the bloomin' hell you were!"

"We were," The Doctor glanced at Rose and tugged at his ear.  "Well, er, we were... Busy."

"Were you shagging?"

Both Rose and the Doctor blinked at her blunt choice of words and looked at each other, shuffling awkwardly.  Finally, Rose held up a hand as her mother began to speak again. 

"We bonded, Mum," Rose said simply.

"That's what he calls it?" Jackie's eyebrows shot into her hairline.  "Bonding?"

"Mentally!" The Doctor hollered, than lowered his voice.  "Mentally, telepathically," he wiggled his fingers by his temple.  "We can get into each other's heads."

"Does that mean, you're... Together?"  Jackie asked slowly, smiling.

"Maybe we'd better talk about this inside," The Doctor said in a rushed voice, pulling Rose towards the Estate.  Jackie followed behind, almost blinded with joy at the fact that those two had finally gotten their acts together.  They thought they were being inconspicuous, the Doctor occasionally bumping his shoulder to Rose's, and Jackie thought there was no way that they thought she didn't notice Rose bringing their joined hands up to brush her lips across the Doctor's knuckles.

They made it back to the flat and Jackie brewed some tea before they had a  seat on the table.  She sat across from them and waited expectantly for them to begin.

The Doctor and Rose took turns telling the whole story, and Rose took the parts with the Master so that the Doctor wouldn't have to speak of it.  She held his hand and made sure he was alright. 

They both cleverly left out the part about Rose being a Time Lady until the very end.  Jackie let the whole thing seep in and she nodded slowly.  "So, you're alone, again?" She asked quietly, and sadly.

"Well, no," the Doctor admitted.  He glanced over at Rose.  "That was the... Main purpose for this whole visit.  Your Rose here is quite a treasure, Jackie."

"Your Rose now, too," Jackie pointed out, leaning back. "And yes, she is.  Go on."

"Rose's got two hearts," the Doctor said quietly.  "She's a Time Lady."

Jackie opened and closed her mouth a couple of times.  "She's a... And you're a... And you two..."  She held her hand to her head.  "Oh.  How the hell did that happen?"

"Bad wolf," Rose and the Doctor said together.  Jackie had to nod, because she had to understand, she knew about Bad Wolf, and all that nonsense.  "So, you're like him now."

It wasn't a question.  Rose nodded. "Yeah.  Two hearts, regenerations when I'll need them, the whole bunch," she shrugged.  "I'm a telepathic thing now too, that's how we were able to bond."

"Well it's about time," Jackie smiled.  "I'm happy for you."

"What, you're not mad?" Rose asked, furrowing her brows.  "You don't wanna kill the Doctor or anything?"

"He'd only regenerate," Jackie waved her off.  "Besides, I just wanted you to be happy, sweetheart, and I know you are with him."

The Doctor couldn't help but smile a little in pride of that statement.  Rose noticed, and she was proud of the smile that was there.  Everything really would be okay.

Rose was still adjusting to two hearts, so Jackie demanded they stay for a couple of days so she could make sure that Rose was alright.  After a lecture on "no shagging in Rose's old bedroom" was implemented, she went off to cook dinner.

Rose and the Doctor fell asleep in each other's arms that night, their quadruple heartbeats echoing almost audibly through the room.  Rose felt the steady rise and fall of his chest under her cheek and she realized that no amount of time, not even forever, would be enough.  But they had forever, and that was all that mattered now.

The Master was supposedly gone, but maybe he'd come back someday.  Either way, if he was going to be faced again, he would be faced by the strongest team in the universe.  The Oncoming Storm and Rose Tyler: Defender of the Earth.

 

 


End file.
